Sunday 5 June 2011

A recipe for happiness ... it works for me anyway.

There is nothing better for clearing my mind than to spend time outside. When I was thinner and fitter I would go for a run and let the wind rushing through my hair blow the cobwebs and the frustrations of the day away.I am still hoping that my running days are not over! Nowadays though you are more likely to find me escaping either into my garden or my allotment to clear my head.

No matter what has happened in my day there is something about being outdoors, alone, in the sunshine and the breeze that empties my head of my worries or my sadness. The quiet trek from water butt to vegetable beds, with water from my watering can slopping onto my feet, becomes a process of meditation. My only companions are the birds and the insects and somehow my mind reaches a quiet place - a place of contentment and happiness.



There is much to be said for being able to find that place. I don't have to be anything I am not. There is no expectation to be anything other than the carrier of water for my plants.



I crouch in the dust of my pathways, slowly making my way around my plot, weeding and tidying and slowly emptying my mind of the day's happenings. I probably spend about 45 minutes each day doing this and although it will never change the world it changes me. I choose to put away everything negative and just concentrate on making my plants healthy, my plot spotless.

We have eaten two of my lettuces now and each day I go there are changes to everything. The runner beans are shooting up the canes and the redcurrants are turning into scarlet jewels, nestled amongst the shading leaves. Spring onions are pushing their way up through the earth to protect my carrots. And the bush I thought was another red currant is now laden with ... gooseberries!



I am very lucky to have my little sanctuary. It may not change the world, it may not be very interesting to anyone else, but I love it and it makes me happy on days when I could have been sad.


6 comments:

Gail said...

Gardening is good for the soul!

Great progress here, looking good.

Gail said...

Thanks for stopping by...I seem to have lost your email and could not reply.

Yes, our lives are different but that is what makes the internet great and makes the world smaller.

Inkling said...

I just love coming here. Sundays are kind of sad days for me for some reason, so it was a sweet treat to stop in here and see your post and pictures. Made me feel a little less lonely for a second.

Our community garden opened today for the first time, but my little guy is sick, so we won't do our planting until Tuesday at the earliest. It's been so rainy and cool that everything is super late. I'm just hoping for enough sun and warmth (but not too much!) to help my seeds sprout and the plants to grow so I at least have a tiny harvest. We don't get to keep our plots beyond the fall unless something changes though, so I'm sad that I don't get to plant perennials like you have. Maybe someday....

Thank you for keeping me inspired and teaching me so much. I love coming here and learning from you.

sarah at secret housewife said...

Two of my favourite ladies. I love it that you are both part of my life - so far away, but always so close as well. Thank you for your lovely comments.Gail, I love it when you post photos of your vegetable garden - it is so quirky and Inkling, I can't wait to see your plants growing too!! Sarah xx

Pauline said...

"I crouch in the dust of my pathways, slowly making my way around my plot, weeding and tidying." That could be a metaphor for life. On days when I crouch in the dust of my pathways, I need to walk and do my weeding and tidying in my head. We each need to find our own ways of doing this, I suspect some never do.
I see so many metaphors in this post! You are, indeed, the carrier of water for your plants.

Louise said...

I wish I could get my head around writing a post like this. It's exactly how I feel, and gardening has been my saviour from a bout of depression I had back in the early '90s. I could never be without a garden now, and the nature around me. I have those runner beans, redcurrants and gooseberries coming along very nicely in my garden too. That's a very special bee photo, and very tidy allotment space! x