“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”
~ Jalaluddin Rumi
Gardening has always been a coordinated balance between many factors most controlled by Mother Nature. And after gardening for 30+ years, I have finally decided to stop fighting nature. It just doesn’t pay, and nature seems to win anyway.
I have found flowing with nature best as spring snow is going to happen no matter how much I pray it won’t….or an unusually warm winter will be followed by a cold summer hampering the growth of summer veggies.
And I have learned that trying to plant tomatoes too early can spell doom when nature decides to send a cold wave. I could cover them, but if the ground isn’t warm enough then they will just flounder and have problems all season because they didn’t get a good start. So I wait until the weather warms enough to make the plants happily grow.
These pansies, grown from seed, have to be started indoors almost 3 months in advance if I want to get them out in spring and flowering in my pots. Starting them too late, this year, means they will only bloom for a short time in late spring/early summer. Once the summer heat sticks around with its inevitable humidity, they will wilt and die back.
Creating a Balanced Life
As it is with the garden, it is with my life, balance needs a coordinated effort. I wrote about balance when I started this blog. And in 7 years, I have learned a lot about creating a balanced life.
At first I thought it impossible, but I am learning that it takes work…..blissful work because when you feel balanced you know it is worth it. Much like seeing the first tomatoes or radishes or even pansies flowering from the seeds you planted.
The work is continuous, and you can’t just rest on your laurels once your life seems balanced. You must continue to make sure you have watered and fed your life, like your garden. I am continually shifting and adjusting things…..more rest, regular daily habits of meditation, walking, journal writing, creating, playing, and of course work. Weeding is one of the most important habits I have acquired both for my garden (although you would never know it) and my life. Clearing out thoughts and actions or habits that no longer serve me, like the weeds, in my garden has helped me to thrive.
Regular maintenance of our lives, and our relationships, will serve us well too. Of course there are those events that can throw our lives out of whack. But my continual efforts at seeking balance have helped me react less. Instead I am more proactive using deliberate actions to create a beautiful, harmonious garden and life. And who doesn’t want more harmony in their lives.
How do you create balance in your life? What habits bring your life more bliss and harmony?
This wonderful dish of floating pansies was created with love for my Aunt Mary who recently passed away. She gave me this dish many, many years ago, and adding a few pansies I grew this year, that are still blooming in our cooler summer, just made me smile. I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme.
The pictures shared here were created with my Ipod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma. I love the effects of these photos…..like creating art every day.
Also I just started posting poetry again on my other blog, Living From Happiness. You can read it here.
All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2017. Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.