Planting seeds is more meaningful than you think…
I am always a little manic at this time of year, as I get my garden in. This time planting felt even more chaotic than usual. Last year we put in a new patio when the deck collapsed, and this year we put in a large flower bed in our front garden - which means that everything is “different” now - the old plans don’t work. I can’t quite get comfortable in the new environments - keep picking at my work, trying to make it feel right… An interesting analogy for the what is happening at Global Psychics right now. The new Live Reading services change a lot in the way we have interacted with our clients - everything is the same, but different. I’m not comfortable yet with the new processes. The physical world - my garden - is manifesting my inner discomfort.
My garden is a wonderful teacher, a clear mirror. Planting and nurturing it is a great exercise in standing back from myself. Of course, when I first complete the planting, I am so pleased with the way it all fits - but then things grow - the lemon balm takes over the rose garden, things die - I missed watering, new flowers blossom - and I forgot how tall they would grow… my mistakes become obvious over the summer months - and so do the rewards for the hard work. Year by year the garden gets better and better as I learn what works where, and allow nature to direct the planting. The garden also teaches me to be flexible, to go with the flow.
My garden is a living being to me. My way of showing my love for Mother Earth, and letting her know that I appreciate and respect her cycles. It reminds me that my world is abundant and helps me to manifest prosperity in my life… We have a rather large piece of property for a city residence. When I first bought it, it was in pretty bad shape, hadn’t been lovingly tended for a few years - although there was some evidence that at one time someone had appreciated it… in any case, in the first few years, we tore out overgrown bushes and vines and claimed the land as our own with new gardens and shrubs… as I said, I can be a little manic with gardening, so predictably, I created spaces to grow flowers, veggies, and herbs wherever I could get sunshine… and where the sun didn’t shine, I created lovely shade gardens…. never thinking of how much work all of these different patches would entail over the next years. But it is joyful work! The expense is always worth it. I talk to the seeds and the plants as I place them in the ground…I see the seeds I plant in the dirt, as the seeds I have planted in my life. So as I plant, I am also thinking of specific projects I am working on whether in business or in my home and tell the seeds that as they grow, my plans will come to fruition. I tell them that they have a special purpose in our lives, that they must help me create abundance for my family, that I expect them to join forces with me in creating a loving and warm and prosperous space for all of us. And each year, in its own way, my garden delivers. My garden is a working living being!
It means a lot to me, for a lot of significant reasons:
- my garden is one of the ways that I can play and create, with colour, with the earth, with life, a creative expression that involves my whole being, body, heart, mind, feelings, and soul.
- the work of planting is healing… as is sitting in the garden, breathing in the sweet scents, feasting my soul on the beauty around me - being in my garden grounds me. As it grows, I see the truth in my first visions for it and notice what needs to be changed, moved, or pulled. And this makes it easier to see objectively the visions and dreams for my work in business and life - and notice what needs to be changed, moved, or pulled there…
- produce from my garden feeds my family — and neighbours and friends - through the summer and fall with the tastiest tomatoes we’ll eat all year, the freshest peppers, an abundance of beans, berries, and a wonderful variety of delicious greens and herbs. All organic, pesticide free, picked by me, minutes before I put them on the table.
- my garden attracts a lot of people over the summer… Saturday nights, my son and I will start a fire after dark and by midnight there will be as many as 10 or 12 neighbours and friends who filtered in one by one for a late night chat. We have a small little house so having a large family gathering or a party with friends just isn’t possible - until the garden is planted… then we have a lovely large space in which to entertain - and inspire - the people around us. My garden has inspired many folks to plant their own small gardens - and, more importantly, to be organic gardeners.
- through the garden I can express my delight an the incredible variety of experiences and learning our world offers. I am awed by the many choices nature offers and how much variety my little chunk of land can support. I gather blackberries, raspberries, black and red currants from my garden, 5 or 6 different vegetables, a dozen different herbs (the mint and I battle it out every spring, but in the end it usually wins). I have three or four different kinds of roses and hostas, bushes I grew from tiny shoots, ferns and lilies I transplanted from my friends’ gardens. I have a rather formal front garden, a wall of flowers in my patio garden, and a lovely wild garden in the back filled with violets and chinese lanterns… and every year new volunteers arrive to add their own special touch. If variety is the spice of life, my garden delivers more spice than I ever thought existed!
- the insects and critters around my garden teach me about our connections with each living being and - and especially about being patient. I get frustrated with the ants that appear on my kitchen counters at this time of year - but then I remember that the peonies need them to be able to show me their beautiful faces and share their wonderful scent. So instead of placing traps around, I clear the counters of anything that would attract ants, disinfect with vinegar and water, all the while talking to them about leaving before I am forced to take actions that neither of us would like… it usually works.
- the garden is a place of sharing, it helps me connect with the people around me - handing fresh-picked tomatoes over the fence cements co-operative relations with neighbours; sharing seeds and plants and ideas makes all of our gardens better… and because it has become such a magical place for so many others, it creates many opportunities for me to talk about magic, making magic in our lives, playing with magic, living a life that honours our Oneness, and our direct connection, our symbiotic relationship with the natural world around us.
Gardening brings out the witch in me.Rain or shine, at the summer solstice I gather my friends together in the back garden for a fire and some ritual to helps all of us attract more magic. I am sure the divas are dancing around us as we meditate. I have had some incredible experiences with the divas in my garden, so I know they are real and happy to be working with me. We built a lovely diva palace in our front garden to be sure they would stick around… and they do.
So, I ask, what’s in your garden? Have you found the undiscovered treasures, divas and magic there? What does your garden mean to you? Take a second look - it is more than a patch of dirt with plants growing from it - it is alive, and has meaning in your life, purpose and value. Whether you like to work in a garden, or simply visit it, it represents your world in some very special ways - look deeper…. it will talk with you, teach you, as mine does, when you are listening.
Lotsa LLLove, Danielle