One of the curiosities of this covid-19 affair is the influx of people who have taken to gardening. Not foreseeing this, stores have simply run out of seeds, gloves, and other agrarian accoutrements. There are even new restrictions on ordering seeds across state-lines, as many companies make efforts to limit a feared spread. Being in an urban area, naturally garden plots have become prized commodities. Waitlists are long.
Fortunately, a friend and I signed-up for a community plot at the start of the New Year. For one day, we were on the waitlist. Prior to our application, she – a more experienced gardener- purchased seeds, and started a few of the flora in house. An easy transport when the time arrived; she can see our plot from her apartment balcony.
In fact, as we drew-up our plans in February, she joked that she could monitor pesky thieves (yes, I mean you Peter, son of Rabbit) whenever they attempted a dawn hour heist. And, if the weather prevented us from working in the soil, I could send reiki from her apartment too. We chortled at the idea. But the joke soured as we noticed plants disappear from our plot to a plot a few marks down from ours (Don’t worry Peter; we know it wasn’t you or your kin).
A Curious Event
IOne day she ran into the woman of the plot a few marks down. Apparently, this woman had toiled in our space last year and was less than pleased to find we were now the location’s renters. An odd thing followed as she gruffly told my friend “Well, nothing will grow there anyway. I don’t even know why they rented that space this year!”
Two things:
- We were allotted the plot because we paid the agency money
- Things grow in that plot. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had a lavender or thyme bush to move!
A week later my friend and I had a day off (because we are both music therapists and are lucky enough to still be employed at this time). We went to the garden. Curiously, there were little sprouts…
Of things we hadn’t planted.
“You reap the seeds you sow.”
If you grew under the influence of any religion or morally-based community, you’ve likely encountered a saying that captures that essence. Growing up in a Christian community I can only confidently write that the Bible in fact holds that phrase. And it was not uttered by just anyone in the Bible; not Peter (sorry Son of Rabbit) but Jesus Himself. Considering that, it’s probably a serious thought to ponder.
If we sink into this saying (aka become reflective) we can see it as a pearl of wisdom that leaves the gardening world behind and enters the landscape of our lives…and our minds.
“What you invest your time and energy into…”
“With whom you spend your time…”
“The thoughts that fascinate…”
“Are the things you’re doing today helping you accomplish tomorrow’s forecasted promises?”
We’ve all encountered these questions. Each one has a similar stance, that these are always self-imposed; that you are solely steering the vessel of your life. So often that seems the case, but isn’t control just an illusion? Certainly, we have free choice. At the same time we aren’t impervious to the actions of others (who aren’t in control anyway but that’s another story). You reap what you sow,
But
What happens when you were not the one who sowed the seeds in your garden plot in the first place (aka your life, your mind)?
Considerations for Action
Do you choke them, and tear them from the ground?
Do you tend them and realize their results later on for better or for worse?
Do you simply let them run amuck, wreaking havoc on the growth you had envisioned?
It can take significant energy to remove the little (or big) shoots others have sown and sprouted but until you commit to this, you never fully realize who you are and who you can become. The task is never easy, no matter the size. And when the sun is hot and high and the air is humid and slick, oppression sets in…trying to tell you never to bother; no doubt you’d rather go inside. You’d rather not confront the depths of what’s been growing in your mind. Yet, that doesn’t alter the reality of dill and onions overtaking where you wanted the carrots and zucchini to belong (no, Peter they are not for you). No; you have to trust that the effort –laborious or brief) will be worth the realization.
It took us the afternoon to uproot those sprouts from our garden plot. But now the plot is our own. It is a place to establish and commit to our vision and to reap only what we sowed.
