Cultivate more, Consume less
One who cultivates tries to create the most fertile conditions for good things to survive and thrive.
Culture Making: Rediscovering Our Creative Calling
by Andy Crouch
Happy Spring!
If you're a gardener (which I am not, but I have friends who are) you are thinking about cultivating a garden this time of year.
Last week I wrote about being labeled and treated as a Consumer, and my desire to be a Creator instead. This week I want to be a Cultivator, too.
Cultivating is more about long-term results than short-term results.
It’s concerned with repeated actions, oftentimes small or simple actions.
It’s about consistency.
The power of cultivation grows exponentially.
A recent example of the power of simple, repeated actions is My Octopus Teacher, a beautiful and interesting documentary about a guy who befriends a small octopus. Craig Foster lives right on the ocean, and he snorkels every single day in order to get close to this octopus. He cultivates a relationship with this creature.
Every day he swims to the area where she lives and just hangs out. Because he is there every day, she gets used to him and begins to lose her fear. She initially reaches out a single arm to touch him.
It’s amazing to see the connection between this man and this octopus. So unique and unusual. He spent around a year (which is all the longer she lived) going to see her every day. Consistent, continued choices first created, then cultivated, their relationship. Craig was committed to repeating his actions daily in order to keep the connection going.
She eventually gets to the point where she cuddles up on his bare chest, all eight arms hugging him, as he pets her head.
Listening to him describe his time in the ocean, and all the details he learned to recognize under the water is inspiring. He actually learned to read her tracks in the sand to find her in the early days.
Along with her tracks, Craig learned to recognize the tracks of other creatures. Because he was in the water every day, in the same spot, he became increasingly familiar with the details and beauty of the kelp forest and its residents. His deepening knowledge greatly enriched his experiences in the water.
Our culture is frequently focused on new and different as if they are synonyms for better. We are constantly encouraged to upgrade everything, try new products, and explore new experiences.
Cultivation encourages us to go deeper rather than broader, to visit the same patch of kelp forest day after day.
Not seeing new spaces, but seeing with new eyes.
Craig learned to see and read the details of the sea floor, the growing kelp, and the octopus he loved. His simple act of swimming—an action that looked the same on Day 1 as it did on Day 324—made an unusual relationship possible.
What gave his actions weight was repetition and consistency.
When I think about the depth and richness cultivation can bring, I immediately think of the people I love. Cultivating deeper relationships, over years and decades, is more rewarding than anything else in my life. I'm so glad for the choices I made to invest in relationships. My choices to invest in material things are quite often regretted.
Like Craig’s action of swimming, the actions used to cultivate relationships may not look extremely powerful, and may not change much over time. Yet repetition and consistency, applied intentionally, produce richness, depth and satisfaction we can’t imagine in the beginning.
Tell me:
What have you cultivated in your life?
What benefits have you seen from being consistent over long periods of time?
What would you like to start cultivating right now?
