What is a Garden?

It seems every year our flower and vegetable garden produces one thing in abundance over the rest.  This year it was the small cherry type tomatoes.  We had hundreds and hundreds of these little juicy pop in your mouth delights.

It was these tomatoes travelling to neighbors and friends by the bowl full and it is always wonderful to watch the smiles and sparkle in the eyes of others as they gaze at and sample whatever is being shared. It is even more wonderful to know the gardener passes these gifts on with just as much delight. 

So the old Chinese Proverb “he who plants a garden plants happiness” is right!

I'd like to think that perhaps a garden is not just a plot of land for growing vegetables, flowers, fruit, or shrubs - to me there may be other kinds of gardens.  I wonder if anywhere we are nurtured and allowed to grow, develop, and flourish is a garden setting. 

 

Our home and neighborhood is a place where we plant roots and provide an environment for our family to be cared for and grow to be healthy and strong.  It’s a place where we want to be and feel nourished, supported, protected, and safe. 

 

Our many levels of schools and learning centers nurture and tends to our needs from childhood to adults so we can establish a strong foundation from which we can give our best and blossom through our accomplishments.  Our job, hobbies, and passions can also be a place for us to establish ourselves, to grow, mature, and display our potential and talents.

 

So here’s the question - could any place that nourishes and supports our body, mind, and soul to blossom and flourish also be considered a kind of garden?

 

I wonder if perhaps it might even be that place in our heart that fills up and sometimes overflows with pleasure, caring, giving, and love ... oh, I think this one sounds like the gardener!

Rumi Quote

Inspiring Rumi Quote 

With Beautiful Autumn picture!

Another quote that fits into my life and what I want to share!


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One Rose Card

The One Rose Wellness Card I picked today says -

"Say to yourself, perhaps this will be another perfect day ..."

We get to enjoy our Thanksgiving weekend with sunshine, blue skies,
flowers and some fresh produce still from the garden.

Much to be thankful for, and it will be another perfect day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Restorative Yoga Workshop

I just spent 5 days last week in Vancouver taking the Relax and Renew Restorative Yoga workshop taught by Judith Hanson Lasater.

 

Judith is a wonderful master teacher who passes on not only all her experience in Yoga but speaks to us about how to live with grace, kindness, compassion, and how to listen and pay attention to others as everyone is important.  In this workshop we had homework such as not rushing, and no waiting.  We talked about how our thoughts and emotions can either lead us to anxiety, anger, and frustration, or go the other way to find time to do something else, find compassion, or just move quickly without adding in the stress or worry.  

 

Several ladies reported back at how one small change they did that one night made such a difference in their interactions with others, or how they found a few minutes to do something else they needed to do.

 

I love it when you go to a workshop on one thing and come away with much more to think about.  It is always these small simple things that if we can bring them into our lives on a regular basis they add up, and teach us to  live and connect to our life from a more peaceful, calm, and understanding place. 

One Rose Wellness Card

The message I picked today says -

" As you rest, think only of wonderful things,
wish with your heart and dream with your soul..."

One Rose Wellness Card

The message I picked today says -

 

"In this moment, say to yourself,

my breath brings me back to stillness,

to silence, to a feeling of being free..."

Telling our Stories!

One Year Later – A dog story!

Adjustments and changes are always part of life, some are easy while others take some time. 

Last September we said good bye to our lovely Scottie dog girl, Tilly.  It was very unexpected so that added even more to the feelings of love, sadness, and loss. 

Yes, we still have our Westie dog girl Chloe, and even she went through her own period of loss and missing her sister.

In the days that followed we learned that Chloe’s nightly not eating was just a game to tease Tilly, and we all fell for it. We had rushed to save her food from Tilly when she walked away from it almost every night for the previous seven years.  

We found out that when we go for our morning walks the person who doesn’t have a leash to hold on to feels left out, so we share the one back and forth.  

We found out how Tilly taught us about trusting, loving, and being kind even when you don’t feel well.  And, we found out we all have our own memories and unique ways we love and remember others in our heart.

This past summer was full of memories of Tilly who loved eating all the fallen cherries, raiding the garden for peas and green beans, playing with and then trying to bury the fallen apples in the garden or her various beds, and loving to be in the ocean trying to catch the little fishes. (Yes, she was a food lover!)

Below are a few lines from one of my new writings that seems to fit here.  It’s about telling our story, and helping to pass on stories of others so they can be remembered in the future as well. (I wasn’t thinking about pets when I wrote it but sharing their stories is important as well)

“Maybe when you write your stories, you can also dedicate a few chapters to others you can remember so they don’t get forgotten … you can speak about them, tell a few of their stories and experiences so they can go along with you into the future … they may not even know they are remembered, loved, or admired for their struggles, strengths, courage, and for being like you, the best they could be.”

A dear friend recently wrote and shared a beautiful story about her lovely little dog Sadie. It was inspiring to read how so many people and experiences are connected to one tiny dog, and to know that Sadie will also live on through the hearts and stories of others!

Now I really need another tissue!

Earlier story 

Supersize or Downsize?

What do you think?

I'm leaning towards downsizing

Roots to Breath, Dona Anderson

I’ve been thinking about how we shop with all these stores and the other services we get.  What’s with all this more or bigger is better and unlimited or limited this and that, and then there’s the super sizing and the bundling. 

They say they’re adding more, giving us a deal, more time or access, but doesn’t all this feed our mind to want more, and a lot of the times it’s not needed, wanted, or even used.  We fall into the idea that we need it or will use it, it’s a good deal, so we get more for less or lots for just a bit more.

I’m all for saving money wherever I can but lots of times we get the unlimited this and that, and after a while do we even appreciate it anymore?  We buy the bigger meal because it is only a bit more or we buy more of something on sale then eat or waste more.  We buy the box of six when we really only want one and then can’t even find the others when we run out.  We buy this or that just because we can, we see it, or it’s the new model.  We sign up for a long membership and then only go a few times.

Do we really need or even want what we’re getting, using, or paying for?  Are we really appreciating what we get or is it just a lot more things filling our lives, homes, heads, and stomachs.  Are we living with excess clutter, pounds, services, and creating more and more waste just to make our heads feel happier to think we got a good deal? 

Does this make any sense?

Downsizing is starting to mean so much more!

Buddha said...