The Broken Pot

A broken pot sat by herself by the side of a path that led to a well.
She felt abandoned by a fellow traveler who did not need her anymore, for she had a hole and could not be of use.
She was filled with sadness and emptiness.
She thought the hole could never be fixed, and her emptiness could never be filled.
She sat all alone and dreamed. Everyday.
She watched the dark clouds pass by her.
She yearned for them to burst open and fill her with rain.
"Just fill me up with something! I don't want to be empty!", she cried to herself.
But there was no one to hear her cries.
The clouds went by without even looking at her.
She was sad that they went away, without even noticing her.
She was jealous when she saw them sharing their bounty with a distant hill.
"If only someone would pick me up, fill up my hole and carry me to the well......then I will be happy, I will be full of water. I can then see the world in me......I will feel connected....the blue sky, the trees dancing in the breeze, the little bird stopping by to drink from me.....ah! I will feel so full and happy then. I will be at peace," she thought to herself.
But there was  no one to pick her up.
There was no one to carry her to the well.
No one really needed her.
The water seemed so close, and yet so far. She was heart-broken.
And yet she felt she could give so much.....if only her hole was filled and fixed.
She was bitter and angry.
"It will never rain.....I must stop dreaming. This desire is just an illusion. I can never be filled up with water," she thought to herself.
And then she resigned herself to be filled up with mud or stone.
"I can at least just be a pot for a flower or some grass to grow in," she said to herself.
But again, there was no one to fill her up, even with mud.
And so she sat, still sad and empty.
Slowly she began to love her emptiness.
She could hear the wind as it blew through her. It whistled a quiet song that sounded like a lullaby.
A blade of grass peeped in through her hole smiling at her, to see what she was up to.
She could suddenly smell the earth through the blade of grass.
The rich, fresh smell woke her up from her drowsy state.
She suddenly felt alive. She felt grounded.
She felt in touch with herself and everything around her.
She forgot about her hole. She was consumed with joy!
Dark clouds slowly gathered over her. She looked at them and smiled.
They started moving away, but she didn't feel sad anymore. She waved to them.
Suddenly, there was a loud earth-shattering sound. She felt she was going to break to pieces.
And a flash of light hurtled down to the earth.
The sky broke open and there was rain....and how!
It poured and poured.
The little pot was now full of water, which was overflowing all over, in spite of her hole.
She had waited for this moment for so long. And now it was here.
She could see the sky and the clouds and the trees inside her.
She could smell her own fragrance now.
She could give of herself as much as she wanted to, not to quench another's thirst, but just because she had so much to give.
Birds stopped by for a quick dip and a drink of cool, refreshing water.
She was broken and yet complete; full and yet empty; giving and yet always receiving.
She finally found love.
She was the broken pot of love.