The garden of life....

When I started this blog, I never intended for it to be exclusively about my garden....at least not the one that I grow veggies in. I intended it to be more of a ramble through my thoughts and feelings in the garden of my life.

I once heard that life is like a pot of soup. You can always add things, but once they're in there, you're stuck with them. Each addition to your soup-pot changes the flavor and structure of what is there and it can never change back to what it was before. I agree.

However, I tend to think of life more as a garden....You reap what you sow in a perfect world, but unfortunately sometimes things just don't go your way and through no fault of your own the things you have worked so hard to achieve just don't happen. On the other hand, sometimes you get a wonderful volunteer plant that produces the most amazing fruit or you neglect your garden horribly and it forgives you and provides a bountiful harvest anyway.

Now, my analogy is nowhere near as complete as the soup-pot theory, but it serves my purpose and makes me happy. It reminds me daily that you have to work for what you get out of life, and even then there are no guarantees. Sounds a little dark when I put it that way, but there you have it.

I think it is important to be "barefoot" in your "garden". Shoes represent apathy and de-sensitization to your life, your garden. Sometimes it hurts to be barefoot. You stub your toe or step on something too sharp. But other times it is wonderful. The feel of sun-warmed soil, of mud squishing between your toes. Even when it hurts, you know it's real.

I suppose I am thinking about this because 4 yrs ago, I planted a wonderful seed in my garden. I have struggled to nurture this plant for the last few years, and am finally beginning to see it bloom in the way I had envisioned in the beginning. It has been hard though, for the plant has been constantly under attack by parasites and disease. I have done everything I can to treat these issues without causing harm to the tender plant, but nothing has done any good. Now the time has come where all that can be done to save it is a hard pruning. Even the plant agrees (yes, my plant talks...it's my story, I'll do it my way). This will be a hard time, knowing that what must be done will be painfull for all involved. I am angry and yet relieved, hating that it has come to this but comfortable in the knowledge that what must be done will be. I know that my garden will be a better place for it. I look forward to being able to run barefoot in my garden without fear of wounding myself again. While I have not yet succumbed to true shoes, I have definitely been wearing sandals for quite a while and watching my step carefully. It will be a relief to take them off and let my feet breathe once again.