ABUNDANCE

Abundance is a word that I have been hearing and seeing a lot lately. It is a part of the new consciousness wave that is taking over the world. Everyone seems to be becoming aware that there is a seat at the table for everyone, though the servings may differ. That success varies according to one’s idea of it and that you are the only narrator of your story, unless you give away that power.

For me, everyone is entitled to incredible levels of comfort, but will only achieve that which their mind can conceive. The world “waking up” is something that I am particularly happy about to be honest. But as with everything, you will find people who misunderstand and misuse, some who simply jump on the band wagon, and other who exaggerate. They try to push the narrative that abundance only refers to money and I strongly disagree.

According to the internet dictionary, the word abundance means:

• a very large quantity of something.

• the state or condition of having a copious quantity of something; plentifulness:

• plentifulness of the good things of life; prosperity.

With all of those definitions, it is not specified what exactly is in abundance. The ‘good things in life’ can vary from person to person. It all depends on what you want, desire, or require. I feel like at one point in time or another, we all have an abundance of something, whether we want that thing or not.

As usual I am here to tell a little story of how abundance comes to me in different forms, and how important it is to not miss the signs and symbols that tell you divine gifts are coming.

I experienced a beautiful string of gifts from the Universe and all in two weeks. When I realized what was going on, I started to document it. As you may know, my mom and I run a plant nursery (Mantraz Plant Nursery), and we try our best to get new species of plants when and where available. Sometimes we buy from other sellers on the island and other times we are gifted by customers who notice that they may own plants that we do not have.

We were recently gifted three spectacular lilies by a friend of my brother. She visited the pick-up location once on totally different business, and besides a friendly “hello,” there was not much more conversation. Little did I know, she knew her plants very well and had already noticed that the lilies she owned were amiss among our collection. My brother walked in a few days later with a huge pot containing three well developed lilies, neatly labeled! I was overjoyed and rushed to see about getting several plants out of them. Upon looking at the labels, two of them were plants that I had been trying to find on island for about three months, and here they were, sent to me as a gift! I told my brother to thank the lovely lady and to inquire what plants she would like to have from the Nursery in exchange, and though she did not want to, she settled for a White Spider Lily that would spruce up her collection.

That same week, my brother went to visit the family land in the countryside and returned with a serious bag of mangoes, green bananas and Papaya sent by my uncle. My son loves mangoes and so he had a blast! Just a day before getting this wonderful surprise, I had already made a note to go to the capital city to purchase some green bananas. Here in Dominica, we call it “Fig, or Green Fig’ and we cook and eat them in a variety of dishes. The Divine supplier said “No. No buy. Gift!”

As usual I shared my wonderful fruit basket with some wonderful people and thanked God for responding to my desires. I also make my brother breakfast sometimes as he starts work very early, and sometimes goes a while before eating. I reminded him that if he were to see eggs on sale along his route, to grab a dozen. He placed a bag on the table one night and when I opened it, I had to ask him if he had hijacked a chicken farm. More than two dozen eggs were in there! Abundance.

As if The Creator was just getting started, my next-door neighbour called out to me that weekend because she had something for me. I went to her house and received a bunch of a fruit similar to a green banana called “kokoy” on the island, and a bag of sweet, juicy limes.

That same morning, I had bought just two limes at the supermarket as a sign of preparation for getting some fish. Fish Vans come driving through the community selling their fresh-caught fish. Tuna and Marlin seemed to have been back in large numbers and so there would be multiple vans in the area at once, but usually it would be my dad doing the buying, and he was not on island. ☹ Having recently returned from a work trip, I had a lot of unfinished business and the bills happily waiting for me and so when the first few vans passed by, not only did I not have the physical cash, but I was also apprehensive about buying the fish. My mom had tried to give me the run-down on how to tell good fish from bad fish, and though I felt like I understood, I felt like putting it into practice would be hard for me.

The day after receiving that bag of blessed limes, I heard the fish vans again. I had heard my dad getting into arguments with some of the fishermen before, because they were trying to sell him “bad fish” or “fish that were too small” and I began to question myself. The sound of the conch shell grew louder as they got closer to the house and I stood on the balcony watching one approach.

I had already made up my mind to let it pass by when something told me to stop them. “They’re good people and it’s good fish” was the message.

Needless to say, I got a spectacular 5 lb Dolphin (NOT like a button nose or the other types of Dolphins. Haha. It’s a fish.) The fish had been cleaned and the men happily cut it into slices for me. Though I was nervous, I had made a great purchase, and upon returning to the house, I was asked by the downstairs occupant to make her purchase for her as well, as she could not leave the baby in her care unattended. I agreed and when I went back to the van, there were three of my neighbours, also making purchases and commenting on the great quality of the fish. It was the sign that I needed. Some people don’t like the heads of the fish and so none of my neighbours took theirs. The fishermen asked me if I wanted them, and I agreed. I would add it to my Soup Pot that I usually make for some homeless folk that I feed. Abundance! I had also called my parents and showed them my purchase and was happy with the approval of my dad. The fishermen promised to seek me out whenever they were back in the community, and they kept it. They swung by the next week with Marlin, and I made another satisfying purchase. My brother remarked when seeing my fresh chunks ” Nah. Those fishermen are your friends now. No way you got all that fish for $40.00.” Abundance!

Life was not finished with me yet. When I visited the family land and my uncle as I had not done so in a while, I was greeted with a bag of bay-leaves from him. I use bay-leaves a lot in my teas and baths and had almost forgotten that they grew on the land. I had already asked a friend of mine to see if she could find some for me. Next was the warm welcome of the amazing sight flowers that my mother had planted there a few months before migrating, going absolutely nuts!

They had grown to ridiculous sizes and were all flowering. Luckily, I had walked with a few digging tools, as I had visited and cleaned around my late brother’s grave earlier that morning, and so I was able to accomplish weeding of the garden, and replanting of some plants that needed a little more space. The most wonderful part of this trip was the rose bush cuttings that I was able to obtain. A shopping bag full! One in particular was the Yellow Rose. This is a plant that had given us great pains to cultivate and there in front of me was a large, healthy, and flowering plant! Best believe I happily snipped away at new cuttings to be potted. On our way down from the land, we greeted a lady who had recently moved into the area, and she noticed our bag of rose bush cuttings. My uncle had jokingly said “These are for you.”  She had laughed and said “No! I’m the one who’s got flowers for you guys!” Her back yard, which she invited us into, was Rose Heaven. All colours, shapes and sizes! She gifted me with a beautiful Orange Rose plant, and I promised her a Baby White Rose plant as soon as I successfully cultivated them. I went home smiling and constantly thanking God for always being my supply.

Recognizing your abundance is important because it comes in different ways. It’s not always in the form of money or riches. Riches mean different things to different people. For some its money, for others its land or possessions, or even family love. It can also be not having to spend money. It can be food, or supplies or gifts. It can be  people being or giving you just what you require and desire. Be open to the signs, messages, symbols, and gifts of the Universe, and always be grateful, then you will see magical changes in your existence.

“Nothing is too good for me, and nothing is too good to last.” Florence Scovel Shinn

Sincerely, a grateful Island Girl.