In this book, Remen writes about personal experiences which have taught her wisdom. She attributes these experiences, first to divine ordination, and second to the love of her family. As the title implies, most of Remen's stories about early childhood pertain to her grandfather, who died when she was only seven-years-old. He once gave her a cup full of dirt and told her to water it daily. Of course the young child had no idea what would happen, so she became bored of the dirt. Still, she kept watering it until the plant sprouted, much to her astonishment.
Remen interprets her life experiences as part of a greater whole, which is the human experience. Her grandfather's enduring influence in her life as been to look at every situation as an opportunity to see the divine. When faced with a life event, Remen carefully pokes around in her feelings, thoughts, and reactions to find some hidden spark of goodness, just like the seedling poking up through the cup of dirt.
In med school and later as a doctor in a cancer ward, Remen is no stranger to suffering. She observes how people's perspective and relationship to pain often dictates how they are affected by illness and injury rather than the actual physical condition. After her own journey with Chrone's Disease and then cancer, Remen arrives at this idea of wholeness as superior to health. She invites people to become comfortable with themselves, their feelings, and their mortality. Later in life, Remen founds a safe space for cancer patients to meet and to process their feelings and to work toward peace in community.
