Getting Dirty and Cleaning the Soul in the Garden!

jaynie (75)Memberin WORLD OF XPILAR • 21 days ago

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Lately, I’ve felt a really intense NEED to be in my garden. It’s not that I don't normally, because gardening has always had a special place in my life… but something has shifted inside me. Something is changing. For whatever reason, there’s a sense of almost... "longing" now - if I can describe it like that... almost like my soul is reaching out for that grounding connection with the earth.

Being in a garden really is a special kind of magic… and I don’t mean just sitting back and soaking in the stillness, although that too is good for the heart. I mean really getting stuck in a garden… elbow deep in the soil, sweating in the sun, knees covered in soil and your back aching in that strangely satisfying way, lol. Who even needs a gym when you’ve got a garden to work in!

It is crazy really… how a few hours of pulling out weeds or planting seeds or seedlings can work every muscle you didn’t know you had, lol. So many times when I am finished gardening I feel like I have been in a full-on rugby match haha, and the next day, even just bending down to pick something up feels almost impossible. But the physical pains are nothing compared to the emotional clarity and peace that comes along with it.

If I am honest, people often leave me feeling rather drained. It’s hard to admit, but it’s like the more I try to engage, the more disconnected I feel and I catch myself walking around carrying that heaviness, unsure of where to put it down… and then I step outside into my garden.

“Watching something grow is good for morale. It helps us believe in life.” – Myron Kaufmann

Even when I step into the garden with a reluctant heart and feet that feel like cinder blocks, it only takes a few minutes before that all changes. The second I start digging, cutting or planting… the noise inside me fades away to almost nothing. I don’t know if it’s the movement, the fresh air or just being in sync with something bigger than myself… but it really helps… Every single time.

There is such a calming rhythm to it all… you know, the kind of peace that doesn’t ask questions or require explanations. It doesn’t leave me feeling disregarded or unheard… it is just me, the soil, and whatever needs doing.

By the time I’m done for the day, my head is clearer and my heart is definitely a whole lot lighter. And then there’s the sense of achievement… accomplishment when looking back at a patch of ground you’ve worked on with your own two hands and knowing that something new will grow there.

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” – May Sarton

My mom, as some of you may already be aware… was the ultimate green fingers. She could bring anything to life. If there was a bare patch of land, you could bet she’d be out there with a spade in her hand and a smile on her face. Gardening wasn’t just her hobby - it was absolutely her refuge. As I get older I am starting to understand why. When the world feels cold and cruel, the garden offers a kind of love that asks for nothing and gives everything.

And so I keep going back. Not because I want to escape life, but because I want to meet it fully - grounded, honest, and real. The garden is a gentle, grubby teacher on how to grow again - patiently, quietly, and with heart.