influence & change

today, i had an epiphany.

i opened my eyes,

i opened my mind,

and i came to a reality.

it is better to influence things than to change them.

i had to first look at the meanings of influence and change.

in·flu·ence
-the effect of something on a person, thing, or event

-the power that somebody has to affect other people's thinking

or actions by means of argument, example, or force of personality

-somebody or something able to affect the course of events

or somebody's thinking or action

change

-alteration, variation, or modification, or the result of this
-to become different, or make something or somebody different

-to exchange, substitute, or replace something

i am occasionally reduced to doing soliloquys,

the need for company almost always manifests, but not always.

sometimes ideas just pop up, crop up and has to be spoken,

also when there is no one to listen, at least, i hear myself. bwahahaha.

so, i told myself on one of those occasional solis,

“change the world one mind at a time. allow those changed to be your catalyst.”

i realized today, at 4:02 in the morning, i was wrong.

i should not set out to change anyone.

when i try and change someone,

i am basically telling them they are not who they should be.

they are not doing something right. they are not whole.

where they may not be any of those things,

it is best to allow them to realize those things by influence.

i am usually met with hostility and resentment.

sometimes it takes leading by example,

sometimes by showing how things have worked for you,

or how you did something. . .

and that points out no flaw or short-comings.

it is opening the mind to change itself.

i realized that i have been influencing my farm here.

i have done what i thought was a lot of changes.

clearing up some areas, putting in mulched plots,

planting tomatoes, beans, aubergines. . .

but i haven’t changed anything. i have only influenced the land.

it has accepted the things i influenced it with,

and changed because it wanted to.

water that used to rush across area 2,

and under the trellised path, creating deeper ruts,

has become receptive

and now the water flows gracefully over waterways put in,
not taking it away.

the tilled earth has decided grass should not grow back as fast,

because it rather likes the feel of the just plowed look.

the land is changing itself. i am the catalyst through influence.

the wild vine that blooms only during christmas,

still clings precariously on my bamboo fence

and still blooms as scheduled,

but extended to grow also, along the other side of the fence.

it was influenced and the land was influence

and through their collaboration,

decided they would change and become one.

and for many years to come,

this wild beauty will be there during christmas,

to be admired and appreciated both for its beauty and fragrance.

i don’t want to change the world, i only want to influence it.

i will influence others and they may (or may not) change.

through their growth they will influence the world.

my reward will be a changed world

and knowing that i had an influence.