Dry Dirt and Daffodils

Once upon a time in a land not so different from our own, there lived a man. He awoke one day, groggy from a long sleep, and found himself alone in a house filled with clutter. Worse, his head was filled with thoughts that pained him and would not give him peace. He was sorely troubled.
It must have been an evil spell that put him in such a deep sleep, for he remembered nothing of the life he had lived before. In the debris he could see the ruins of a dream that he did not recognize. Amid the dust and the cobwebs, he noticed many things that might have been important to his life and the many little objects that must have delighted and amused him a very long time ago. He saw toppled furniture, battered toys and the remnants of food never tasted. Wiping the filth from a mirror in the hall, he saw someone he did not know.
Unable to decide on another course of action, he began to clean his house. He threw away all the objects that he imagined would no longer be necessary to his present existence and kept the ones that pleased him. He gave those things attention, and thereby brought new interactions to life. He cleaned out the dusty corners. He shook out the rugs and was amazed to see what lay hidden beneath.
Finally, he drew the curtains, bringing light into all the dark spaces of his home. The house had been a dwelling place to bats and bugs while he slept, but he was careful to capture every creature that lived in the dark and release it into the bright sunshine outside.
Stepping outside of his once cluttered world, he noticed a garden that suffered from horrible neglect. There were weeds that had killed all the flowering things. There were toxic plants and trees growing wildly, their roots tearing at the foundation of his home and its beautiful high walls.
He set himself to the task of saving the garden at once. He discarded those things would not serve the health of his garden and tended to the plants and flowers that pleased him. He gave them attention, and brought them back to life. Seeing that the ground was dry, he soaked it with water. The water worked like words of love and encouragement to a small child. The sunshine on this unveiled paradise worked like divine intent. Roses grew among crowds of snapdragons and daffodils. In time, his world was lovely, fruitful and filled with color.
He had created paradise out of a desert and made a home out of a ruin. He was free to dream any way he wanted without the pull of old attachments. He was free to enjoy the beauty he had created and to create more. Seeing this, he was happy for the first time. In fact, he lived in and out of his wonderful dream happily ever after.
Oh, yes. And he was no longer troubled by his thoughts