Something you should already know....How Gardening is good for the Soul!

So after a stressful week of dealing with TAPS (transition assistance programs) class, getting my car broken into, dealing with all the bank stuff, and just general PMS I decided on a whim yesterday that I was finally going to plant something in the dirt spots outside my apartment. I had been talking about doing it for a couple years now, and although we will be leaving in a few months, I guess the universe said "OK, now's the time to do something."

So off to Home Depot we went, without much knowledge of how to make the soil fertile around here, what kind of plants to put in the ground and some butterfly grasses and flowering plants on order and arriving in a couple weeks. 2 bags of soil, 1 bag of rocks, a couple of simple tools, 4 small flowers, 1 gardening magazine, and $65 later and we're back home. Came home from a doula class and just decided to at least til up one part of the dirt before dance class. Well, got so absorped in the project that just an hour later I had the soil tilled, and mulched and the flowers planted. We "aqquired" some river rocks from a nearby tree on the complex and my small bag of rocks now gave a cleaness to the shrub in the same "dirt patch". 

Anywho, after hearing about all the details you didn't care about, I realized that  I had thought of nothing while gardening, other than nurturing the earth, and making her sustainable, at least in that little part. It was so nice to get dirt on my hands, work up a little sweat, and actually liking doing manual work for a change. To connect with the earth like that again! How renewing, how stimulating and centering all at the same time! Think about it, when is the last time you just sat on the ground? Didn't think about what people were thinking or saying, worrying about anything. Children instincivly do it, play in the dirt, sit on the grass, hug and climb a tree. But for some reason when we become "grown up" it's not appropriate to do so anymore. We're looked at as tree hugging "hippies" if we don't sit on the specified bench, or are not doing something if we are sitting on the ground such as fishing, reading, drawing yadda yadda yadda. I think it's time to change all this! I say if you see a pretty patch of grass sit on it, and enjoy feeling connected to the earth! Go climb a tree or if you're feeling brave go ahead and hug her! Let her nurture you, and you nurture her! Shit, talk to the earth if you please! I had a flower who was damm near dead when I put it in the ground, but gave it a little loving pep talk, letting it know it was safe now, and that it needed to pull through. I kid you not, after just a half cup of water and being planted in the earth, that bright red little face just found it's color and life and lifted it's head to praise the sun! It was a great reminder of how when we become so detatched from the earth (being potted in a cup) and our life is draining away (water and nutrients), maybe all we need is a little TLC from Mother Earth!

In closing, I encourage all of you out there to do a little gardening, even if it's just a house plant or window box, let your imagination run free, plant pretty colors and frangrances, or if that's not possible, go connect with nature. Instead of driving to the mall (yet again) go to the park, play on the swings, climb a tree or just lay in the grass and watch the clouds. It's time to reconnect to Mother Earth and see how much better you feel after just an hour of spending some quality time with your "Mother".

Blessings to All!