I never thought of myself as someone who would ever enjoy gardening.
While I LOVE being outdoors and hiking in the woods is probably one of my favorite things to do, I never caught the gardening bug. I found now interest in it, really ... until this year.
Growing up, my parents and grandparents did a lot of gardening and I learned a few things; once I was old enough to be out on my own, I never had a place or need for it, and once I finally had my own house, I just "didn't care" about gardening so I didn't do anything of the sort. When it comes to taking care of my home, other than the daily duties of course, I was always someone that preferred painting/decorating the walls inside my house than prettying up the flower beds outside of my house.
Everyone around me took great joy in playing in their flower beds and planting new things, but for me, it didn't spark any interest. Sometimes, your soul waits for the right time to ignite itself.
This year, though, I discovered gardening.
I am grateful for all that it has brought me so far... and it's only May!
Let me tell you more about my little garden..
It all started with a dream I've been having for years:
"Someday, I want to plant a carrot garden."
I loved fresh carrots as a kid - grabbing a carrot out of the garden, brushing off the dirt, and then eating it on the spot. There isn't a grocery store carrot in the entire world that can give you the taste of a freshly picked carrot and it's ultimate sweetness. My goal was that someday, I would have a carrot garden and be able to walk into my yard and pick myself a fresh carrot as a snack... any time I want.
Here's the issue: it's hard to have/upkeep a garden if you have no interest in gardening. Am'I'right?
So one morning, I decided that it was time. "I want to have my carrot garden this year and I'm going to figure out how to get this done", I told myself. "I have to put this dream into action!" And so I did.
I went into the garden, and sat right in the dirt.
In front of me, much like a child at the beach, I dug... and dug... and dug. I was on a mission. It wasn't just about the carrots or the gardening I think, I was just excited to put my dream into action! WOO!
To my surprise, while the digging itself took quite a bit of effort, it felt relaxing to sit in the dirt. It was a new level of "feeling grounded" that I did not anticipate when I jumped into my gardening project.
I mean, it makes sense that sitting my butt right on mother earth would help me feel grounded; however, I did not expect the emotional calm that came from simply playing in garden dirt. I could feel it within, not just outwards. I felt like every shovel of dirt I moved added an ounce of calm to my sometimes anxious little soul, like magic. After that first "gardening session", I stepped back and looked at my work. There it was: the first step of my carrot garden, and a newfound inner-calm! Hmm.
Then I went to work, feeling light and accomplished.
The next day, I had plenty of time to work on my new little project. This time: build a raised bed.
Our garden has good dirt, but living on a land with very old trees, we have one heck of a lot of tree roots underground (which I figured out while digging HAHA), so I decided that for my little garden, I would build raised walls and give it some fresh new dirt in there, to give my carrots the best chance.
After a trip to the hardware store and to the gardening centre near our house, I returned with pieces of wood and lots of bags of various dirts. Thankfully, the people hired to work garden centres are not afraid to answer a few questions, and over the years, I have healed my fear of asking others for direction - I personally rather ask the garden man for gardening tips than searching on youtube! ;)
Within a few days, I had dug my garden area, build raised bed walls, and filled it with a perfect mix of the various dirt to grow carrots. The only thing I didn't consider was this the advice I received next:
"There's still frost warnings at night, it's too early for carrots!"
TOO EARLY? But I'm actually liking gardening for the first time in my 38 years of life, what do you mean too early? It never even crossed my mind. HAHA. Shows you how little I know at this time!!!!
So now, I found myself with the perfect garden bed and a couple weeks of time to wait until I could put my carrot seeds in. What was I to do next? I was getting excited for my next gardening session...
Did I actually enjoy gardening? What was happening here... I was feeling happier and calmer and just craving the next time I would go sit in the dirt and play in the garden. Did I just find a new love?
It's not too long after that that my neighbor came by on my next day off, and offered to take me to our local composting plant where I had heard you could pick up free mulch. I figured I probably should.
I didn't need it for the garden, but the flower beds were looking a little drab. Why not, let's go!
That day, I cleaned up an entire flower bed and started another. With my new "free dirt" and my increasingly growing love for playing in said dirt, I found myself tinkering in my garden every day.
Sometimes for just a few minutes, and sometimes for a few hours. What was happening here?
It's been only a few weeks since this adventure began, but I now find myself with amazing looking flowerbeds and a raised bed that will be ready for next week's carrot seed planting, once the evening frost warnings are finally done. In the meantime, I even went to our local nursery for a little shopping and I've now planted 6 different kinds of flowers/plants in the various beds to add a little pop of beauty, nature and color. I also felt bed that I had to mow over the dandelions so I wanted to get new plants for the bees. They are so important to us humans! They, too, help with my flower beds!!!!
I still cannot believe all the work I've done in that yard in so little time.
I discovered a new hobby, a new love, and a new way to feel calm and grounded, all in one. And this, my friends, is the story of the last month of my life... And all because I wanted to have a fresh carrot.
Here's the lesson in all of this.
This adventure, which is very much still on-going, started with something I had said I "wanted to do" for the last 10 years, but never took the time to actually do it. Once I put the effort into making my dream come true, it started to unfold into more beauty and magic that I ever anticipated. I now find myself excited to wake up in the morning so that I can go sit outside with my coffee, pulling weeds in the sun while talking to my new plants, with my bare feet in the dirt. It has become for me a form of morning meditation, and a part of my daily routine. And it's only been a few weeks. I am delighted.
I already feel the magic of the nature around me, but also the magic of putting my own dream into action... and I didn't even plant my seeds yet.
Who knows what other amazingly positive feelings my newfound love of gardening will bring me?
This is how you unlock the true magic of the universe: you follow your dreams, do what your soul ultimately craves, and the universe will bring you all its magic. Don't limit yourself with old beliefs like "I don't like gardening" and look at the big picture: "Fresh carrots make me so happy" so just do it.
The gardening example here is just an example, but the big picture speaks volumes.
If you sit and simply wish for something to happen, it will not happen on it's own. I wished for a carrot garden for 10 years and it never did simply appear. I can tell you that for a fact! haha!!!
Now I am putting this thought into action, and I have already gotten much more than just the carrots I didn't even plant yet. While my example is simple, the idea is grand: the only way to do it... is to do it!
Choose the dream you want to finally realize, and do a little bit every day, until it becomes something even more beautiful than you ever imagined. Doesn't need to happen all at once - little by little is all.
Much like a flower needs the sun and rain, your dream needs to be nurtured too. Take some time everyday and make it happen. It will grow and become what it was always meant to be, you'll see.
So what will you finally put into action?
Love and light,
MarMar