The Garden

For several years, I have been getting the message, “Plant a garden.”  I knew I wanted to, but had no experience at such!  I have now managed to keep a large palm, 2 peace lilies, and a dish garden alive and thriving for about 3 years.  Last year, just to test the waters, I planted 4 tomato plants and they yielded fruit until October…with amazingly low maintenance.  Soil, sun, water….who knew it was so simple?  I had turned gardening into a very complicated enterprise in my mind. 

This year I decided it was time.  I had proven to myself that I could grow things…that I just had to make the effort and Mother Nature would take care of the rest.  Still, there were details I didn’t have.  Fortunately, my son had the missing pieces.  While he was growing up, we lived next to his grandparents and Papa Rick planted a HUGE garden every year.  My son loved his grandpa so much, and followed him in the garden all summer.  Apparently, the wisdom of gardening made its way from Papa Rick to Nathan...and on Mother’s Day, Nathan came over and planted a garden for me!!  I had so much fun the day before going to the Piedmont Farmer’s Market and picking out plants!  I bought Beefsteak and German Johnson tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, red bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe!  I bought green bean, cabbage and onion seeds as I could not find starters for them.  It’s a small garden but could yield a lot of food.  This year I’ll get the feel for what will/will not grow and try new things next year…maybe even expand! 

Writers and philosophers have used the garden as an analogy for life since time began.  We all know how similar planting a flower or vegetable garden is to planting our own “seeds of change”.  We shine our happiness on them and water them with our tears.  In time, the fruits of our labors emerge.  We harvest our “crop”, wait a while and then plant yet another garden.

The timing is perfect in my own life for this comparison.   Last year so many unexpected changes took place in my life.  For a while, it left me feeling like my “ground” was barren.  In truth, it was just being plowed!!  (Not always a pleasant experience!)  Seeds of change were planted and now I shine and water them as I await the harvest.  The more I connect with my own self, the more I connect with all life around me….other people, animals, plants, the universe itself. 

Robert G. Allen says, "Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want."   I am amazed each day as I discover areas of my life in which fear has grounded me.  Just the taking of the first step toward any goal gives one the confidence to move on.  What would you do today if you knew you could not fail?  Plant a garden?  Start a blog?  Get a new puppy?  Call a long lost friend?  Allow yourself to be used by the Universe.  Connect to all life…all life….not just your family and friends but with each person, plant, animal, stars, rain, sun, planets, Mother Earth.  Give more than you thought you could.  Love more than you thought you should.  BE LOVE!!

Special thanks to Felicia Brown for her class on utilizing social media, her encouragement to begin new things, her realistic outlook on setting goals, and for the quote by Robert Allen.