My mother was always in her garden or flower beds as was my grandmother. She just passed away January 1 of this year and for the first time this week I began pulling weeds. I can feel her with me. I am stunned by the love and beauty in your words. Thank you so much for this offering.
Many thanks Almut, it’s funny, I have many tasks to do today and much writing I’ve planned as well and all I want to do is go pull weeds!! Which I will later this afternoon. So grateful to have found your Substack!🌺🌏💓
Nature nurtures my soul. The intake through my eyes floods over my body with a warmth that relaxes and quiets my thoughts and feelings. The stream nearby fills my ears with a sweet soothing sound. My nose detects the welcoming earthy smells, the deliciousness of jasmine or honeysuckle, and I’ll pull off some feathery leaves of a wild fennel plant and savor the anise flavor delighting the palate.
Almut, thank you for the beauty of your writing, for it is a balm for the soul. The picture of the little one made me burst out laughing. Her intense study of the snail is such a wonderful reminder. If we take the time to thoughtfully look and understand the beauty of the natural world around us, maybe we will learn to take the time to thoughtfully look and understand each other.
haha, your post made me laugh in joy! What would we do without kids! They give us powerful teachings about life and death indeed. I am sure 2 boys even more so :-)
And yes, to gardening as powerful metaphor for our spiritual life. I am currently writing a paper in Hildegard and her gardening metaphors. Hope to share some of it here soon.
I remember having come across a very nice pastoral / spiritual care book describing several images for the pastoral care giver. But if I remember correctly I was missing the image of the gardener as of the midwife. I find them such so suiting, don't they?
I love caring for my flowers and the few vegetables I grow. I can easily lose track of time working( playing?) among the plants. Thank you for the blessing; we are all in need of healing.
I have been in a meditative space these past few days in the garden, removing weeds-- those greens that are not fitting into the conversation with the other plants. I sometimes struggle with the executive decisions I make to remove some plants and not others...
Oh, I see you, Katherine. I can meditate for hours over that problem. I assume indeed we are the gardeners and thus you and me must decide what is a weed and what not, in the external and internal garden as well :-)
Thank you for reminding me of moments years ago when my little ones accompanied while gardening.
You are welcome, Cynthia, and thanks for reading!
My mother was always in her garden or flower beds as was my grandmother. She just passed away January 1 of this year and for the first time this week I began pulling weeds. I can feel her with me. I am stunned by the love and beauty in your words. Thank you so much for this offering.
Oh, this is a beautiful observation, Niki.May you have more of these healing experiences while retreating to the garden 🙏
Many thanks Almut, it’s funny, I have many tasks to do today and much writing I’ve planned as well and all I want to do is go pull weeds!! Which I will later this afternoon. So grateful to have found your Substack!🌺🌏💓
That is indeed interesting. I came to understand that weeding really helps me write 😇
Really?! That's so interesting to me! ☺️ I'll keep you posted 🌱✍️♥️
I too find being in the garden, even pulling weeds, to be a calming balm for my mind and soul. Thank you for sharing these thoughts.
You are very welcome, Donna!
This is so beautiful. Thank you!
Thank you for being here, Deb.
Nature nurtures my soul. The intake through my eyes floods over my body with a warmth that relaxes and quiets my thoughts and feelings. The stream nearby fills my ears with a sweet soothing sound. My nose detects the welcoming earthy smells, the deliciousness of jasmine or honeysuckle, and I’ll pull off some feathery leaves of a wild fennel plant and savor the anise flavor delighting the palate.
Thank you for the lovely poetry, Pegge!
Almut, thank you for the beauty of your writing, for it is a balm for the soul. The picture of the little one made me burst out laughing. Her intense study of the snail is such a wonderful reminder. If we take the time to thoughtfully look and understand the beauty of the natural world around us, maybe we will learn to take the time to thoughtfully look and understand each other.
Dear kathleen, lovely words you say indeed! And yes, Hannah’s gaze is intense, partly because she is missing her glasses 🤓
Ah, glasses. Hannah is absolutely adorable and a beautiful bundle of love.
Love this. Needed this.
Thank you, Linda!
Another tender touch as you write healing with your words.
Bless you Kathleen, for your kind words 🙏
I've been thinking about hope a lot as I garden lately and how gardening is a metaphor for our spiritual lives.
What a beautiful song and a sensitive child. My kids' favorite thing to do in the garden these days is find worms and feed them to our chickens! 🤦🏼♀️
haha, your post made me laugh in joy! What would we do without kids! They give us powerful teachings about life and death indeed. I am sure 2 boys even more so :-)
And yes, to gardening as powerful metaphor for our spiritual life. I am currently writing a paper in Hildegard and her gardening metaphors. Hope to share some of it here soon.
I remember having come across a very nice pastoral / spiritual care book describing several images for the pastoral care giver. But if I remember correctly I was missing the image of the gardener as of the midwife. I find them such so suiting, don't they?
I love caring for my flowers and the few vegetables I grow. I can easily lose track of time working( playing?) among the plants. Thank you for the blessing; we are all in need of healing.
Aren't we, Kathleen? And gardening is such a nice healing tool :-)
I have been in a meditative space these past few days in the garden, removing weeds-- those greens that are not fitting into the conversation with the other plants. I sometimes struggle with the executive decisions I make to remove some plants and not others...
Oh, I see you, Katherine. I can meditate for hours over that problem. I assume indeed we are the gardeners and thus you and me must decide what is a weed and what not, in the external and internal garden as well :-)
That is it exactly-- internal and external. : )