So, I have this very groovy neighbor.

He's wonderful- 43 years old, single, wears flannel and brown shoes, has friends with dreadlocks who drive cars that run on french fry grease. Last year he quit his job after his mom miraculously recovered from a health crisis, and decided to live his life in a whole new way.
Today I pulled down the scraggly morning glory vines from the back hedge and harvested the seeds. I was sitting on the front porch step in my pajamas pulling the seeds out of their papery brown pods and putting them into our lovely chrystal glass when my neighbor pulled in. He came over to see what I was up to, and told me about his latest endeavors.
He told me he's been involved in Chrystal Healing, and it's been going very well. I don't know what chrystal healing is, but I smiled and nodded and listened. He said he feels so good to be where he is in life right now- "walking amongst life" is how he described it. He told me about great mentors and inspiring teachers who surround him now. And he told me that he wanted to share this with me because he knew that I'm a spiritual person.
I told him that my relationship with God is mostly adversarial. (Why was I telling him that? The guy just got me to share, that's all, no shame in sharing...) And then, in sort of an odd segue, he said this to me:
One of the symbols of (something nepal-ish that I can't remember) is the peacock, and that is because of this story- in the woods there is a bush with beautiful berries, and every animal in the forest tries to eat them- but when they do, they get sick and fall down. But the peacock eats the berries and says "these are the most delicious berries I've ever eaten". The others ask him how he can eat them and he just spreads his feathers and shows his beautiful plumage. My neighbor said "some people can take the most poisonous things and create beauty."