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How to Weed Your Soul Garden

As I was on my knees digging in the dirt in the blistering heat the other day, something occurred to me between fantasies ofย  jumping into a cool pool of ice cubes.

It became clearly obvious to me that my garden parallels my life.

Watching a drip of sweat roll off my forehead and splash onto my hand I thought back to Spring.

Aaahh, refreshing Spring waking up from a deep slumber. The garden was literally coming to life all on its own. I never even had to lift a finger. Everything was fresh and green and full of new life and zest. Everything just flourished on its very own.

And there wasn’t a weed in sight.

I’ve had times in my life like that. Periods of refreshing and easy self growth. No weeds. They are few and far between, mind you, but I have had them.

Then I thought of Spring turning into Summer and of the few little weedy rascals that peep through the ground and are easily pulled out before they grow too big and the roots grow too deep. Maintenance is slim to none. The plants just take off and drink up the sunshine and grow…and blossom.

Once again, there are times in my life when things just clip clop along and bloom and flourish with little or no work.

But, as summer progresses plants began growing and eventually start crowding one another. The temperature keeps climbing into the dog days of summer and the hotter it gets the more that the plants need watering. And all of a sudden, I find that I have no choice but to spend my day weeding because there are almost as many weeds as flowers and the flowers demand to be “deadheaded” (no that doesn’t mean that they needed a good dose of Jerry Garcia or a tie dyed tee shirt). It means that the flowers that have died on the stem need to be pinched off so that the energy of the plant can be used to grow more flowers rather than use all of its’ energy to keep the plant alive filled with dead flowers.

Sounds hauntingly familiar. There have for sure been times when the “weeds” take over, not to mention that I have to take the time to stop and pinch off the old so that the new can grow.

It’s amazing what flits through my head as I’m dripping in sweat and coated with dirt isn’t it?

And what about those pesky weeds?

As I sat there pulling and digging all 4,324 of them I got to thinking. It was so much easier after a refreshing rain to pull the roots all the way out of the ground. The soil was loose and forgiving.

Very true of real life isn’t it? Sometimes we may try to pull weeds during a drought only to be even more frustrated when the stubborn roots won’t easily release.

And let me tell you, there’s just absolutely no reason to bother pulling a weed unless you get the whole root. Trust me I know, I’ve learned the hard way. Whether it’s my flower garden or my soul garden, ifย  you don’t take the time to pull the whole root of the weed, it will just grow right back.

The blasted little buggers.

I’ve also noticed that the bigger the weed the longer the root the deeper it goes. Therefore the work involved to eradicate the root takes more time and patience.

The smaller surface weeds, while annoying and plentiful, are much easier to get rid of as long as your willing to pay attention to them. Sometimes just a little *roundup* is all you need.

As I sat there weeding and sweating and thinking, I found that there was something very comforting and soothing about my realizations. Something strangely satisfying about the parallels that were being revealed to me through nature about life.

I’m aware that I have so much more to learn but for now I’m happy with the realization that sometimes I just need to stop and weed my soul garden after a cool rain. Take the time to get the whole root and have the patience to deadhead the old flowers to make room for the new.

After an afternoon of “weeding” and “deadheading” both of my gardens look & feel like this.

What does yours feel like?

Happy weeding.

Wenderly

Wenderly

Married my soulmate. Mama of 2. Love to inspire. Can't help but to relish in all things beautiful inside & out. Join me in Savoring the Art of Living.

9 Comments

  1. The photos were great…nice juicy weed, ugly “dead head”, dewy daisy!

    Guess I’d better get out and take care of my own garden.

  2. love your commentary on weeding and all of the thoughts it evoked. thank you for sharing. someone once said, “a weed is but an unloved flower.” so we should maybe think twice before we pull a weed out of our life… ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Like you I’ve found that when our hands are busy, our minds are free to reflect. Such an inspiring analogy here, from time to time we all need to pull out the weeds in our garden, and our soul.

  4. Lovely post coming at a good time for me to do some weeding. I may just go out to the garden with my coffee ๐Ÿ˜‰ and reflect for a few moments.

  5. I never feel closer to God then when my hands are in the dirt!!! Weeding is this best therapy for ridding my mind/soul of anxious and stressful thoughts–seeing the fruits of my labor through a new bloom on a plant I have kept healthy is the best way that God gives me JOY!!! I Love you sister–lovely blog entry!!!

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