Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.
~ Leo Buscaglia
~ Leo Buscaglia
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hen I first planted my tommy toes, I overwatered them. They drowned in my care, unable to breathe and become what they were born to be. And my basil plants grew so large and beautiful, I hated to take too much.
But the purpose of a garden is to both enjoy beauty and to share it. If you are blessed enough with a bountiful harvest, but you keep the fruit on the vine (as I did with my basil), it will wither and die and give joy to no one save the worms. I had to step back and seemingly neglect my garden in order for it to grow. Funny how a little dehydrataion can make them shoot up and reach for the sun.
Now in mid-October, there isn’t much left. But despite the chillier nights, the tomatoes stubbornly keep producing, and the plants continue to creep over the edges of the garden onto the lawn. I pick the tiny red and yellow fruit and wonder if they feel like I do.
Trapped.
In many ways, I have found myself either dying on the vine or being "overwatered" with family issues these last few months. All of a sudden, the dreams I cherished last fall began to close around me, suffocating my creativity. Some is due to a long commute; a lot is due to the constant rub of a critical spirit tearing me down more than I can build them up.
In the end, I have become one very drained, unhappy, and under-productive plant.
But these are my dreams, my story, my garden. And so I have the power to change the plot line, the dialogue, the scenery, even the boundaries. My actual garden isn’t going anywhere, and I do have plans to expand it next spring. It's just that I may be traveling to it once or twice a week to tend it instead of walking out the back door.
And that decision makes me (and my creative spirit) breathe a little easier.
Oremus pro invicem,
~ Mikaela
The farm post is feeling a little metaphorical today! What other meanings does your garden (and nature in general) hold for you?
2 comments:
From my facebook page:
So very candid and touching. Again, your courage and honesty moves me. :)
--L
I appreciate this post, M, and I suspect that whatever the particular landscape, everyone of us has had a season or seasons like this in our lives or in different areas of our lives. Remembering that one has the power to change the dialogue, scenery, and boundaries (especially the boundaries), is so freeing and infuses a sense of peace and lightness. My challenge, though, is then acting on that ability once I remind myself that I have it! :)
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