What feeds your soul? What activities or experiences make your heart sing? Those are some of the things that you have no control over in your life; that you can't be logical about or choose. For that reason, they are part of the primal "you" and should be acknowledged, wondered at and cherished. The things that feed my soul are music (playing great music or listening to it);reading wonderful books; hanging out with my loved ones (friends and family); and gardening or being in the garden, just observing what's going on there. It's amazing how an activity can be the stuff of life for one person and leave another entirely cold, but there you are. One of the mysteries of life. I could try to explain how being in the garden makes me tranquil, settles me, gives me pleasure, exercises both body and mind in a meditative way, but if you don't experience it you'd have to compare it with some other activity that does the same sort of thing for you. For instance, I suspect that my husband gets that same sort of enjoyment out of playing the tuba. I don't really "get it", since I don't play the tuba and have no wish to, but it works for him. It gives him contentment and relaxation, or something that defies explanation. We both play trombone for a living, and I think we both enjoy it a lot, but the tuba gives him something the trombone doesn't. The tuba is his "garden".
Although there are garden jobs I avoid and think I don't prefer them, once I start to do them I tend to get into a rhythm that has a pleasure all its own. I'll think, "Oh, God, the weeding...it's endless, I can't possibly do it today," and put it off. However, if I happen to be in the garden, thinking of something else-- just doing my garden tour, as I call it-- I might absentmindedly notice a weed in a bed and pull it out, then another and another until I've pulled out all the weeds within a certain radius. At that point I come out of my reverie to see that I've made that little part of the garden more beautiful and I feel more relaxed and happy than when I started. That's the beginning of the explanation of why I love gardening.
I did the very same thing yesterday. A dandelion was crowding one of my hostas and I pulled it. Before I realized it, I had vanquished quite a few more. I've only just started gardening this summer, so your blog is timely indeed. Thank you for starting it Viv. The design is beautiful. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adrienne! I'm so pleased when people check it out. I'm really doing it for me, but I can't help being delighted when I get feedback. See you soon.
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