Gardening and life....

We've spent a long day tidying up the garden for the approaching winter.  It is exhausting and fulfilling work. But it is more than just raking and cutting and so I thought it was maybe time for me to post my gardening musings.

Life and gardening - this I believe.....

I believe that gardening has much to teach me about life.  After the spring rains and sunshine warm the earth and arouse the weeds and plants to grow profusely, I know that I need to deal with the weeds if the beauty of the real flowers is not to be effaced.  As I wrench weeds and dig up stubborn roots, and even admire their subtle efforts to deceive with gaudy flowers, I realize that life often needs that decisive approach to preserve its integrity.  Learning to distinguish the real from the false is an essential skill as I learn to weed out behaviors, habits, or longings that would sap my life force and eventually stunt my growth, mar my individuality, and distract me from my purpose and focus.

As I prune and shape through spurts of summer growth or watch plants deal with periods of drought, I realize that life has similar periods; at times living is easy; there are times of drought when I need to draw on the strength and nourishment stored up in times of abundance. Like my plants, I may undergo pruning as I make decisions and shape my life to follow a particular course, or reshape myself to think in a new direction. I have learned that in times of stress there is inner strength for new opportunities for growth.  As I watched young trees this year divest themselves of leaves in a period of drought, I realized the need to know when to give up on a lost cause or to try a different path that will enable me to survive.

The abundance and richness of fall fills me with gratitude for all of life that surrounds me. The myriad colors of nature are never inharmonious. The diversity of people and experiences that have come my way tell me that life is a rich tapestry, and that I should not dread the richness and maturity that come with age. I can share from the abundance of experience and pass on seeds of friendship and wisdom to those who cross my path.

As I survey the winter landscape approaching outside my window, I see on the one hand its barrenness; but on the other, I am reminded of the need for rest and reflection in a world where the term 24/7 has become synonymous with modern successful life.  I see instead a world where nature wisely shrinks back and finds time to store energy and renew itself for another season.  Likewise, I need to find time for reflection and renewal.

Gardening provides many metaphors for life, perhaps because we each desire to discover or create our own little Eden where all is perfect, productive, and ultimately provides beauty and harmony.  And does not this truly reflect life where we can move and bend with the harsh elements, survive periods of drought, enjoy periods of plenty and show off our colors to the sun, and learn to bloom, like Candide, where we have been planted. And, of course, I must take note of the miracles - like the pansy that has grown from a seedling in a crack in a path.

This is why at the end of a summer or autumn day, exhausted and satisfied from working in the garden, that I can take time physically and metaphorically to stop and smell the roses.

Autumn

Summer

Winter

Summer colors