Hello.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale.
Breathe in deeply.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
It is spring here in Minnesota,
And that means the many,
Many gardens at my new house are uncovered and ready to go about their business of growing things.
Now,
In theory,
That's great.
In practice,
That means flowers and weeds alike.
And since I do not like to garden,
I am already freaking out at all the work ahead of me.
Well,
Then I thought,
Well,
Maybe I'm overreacting.
So I invited several folks over who are incredible gardeners.
Whenever I show them the first garden,
They get excited.
But then I lead them to the next.
And the next.
And the next.
They are flabbergasted at how many gardens there are here and how huge they are.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And that's exactly what I've been doing a lot lately,
Trying to breathe in the face of the Herculean work ahead of me.
All I can imagine is me stuck in my gardens day in,
Day out,
Struggling in the hot sun,
Fighting every single weed,
And as a result,
Hating every single flower.
But yesterday,
One of my friends gave me a piece of advice.
Edit your gardens.
By that,
She meant cut out what didn't work for me and add in what did.
So whatever feels draining and overwhelming,
Get rid of it.
If there's something that brings joy and delight,
Focus on that.
Feed that.
Her advice,
Of course,
Works not only for gardens,
But also for life.
Is there something overwhelming you,
Draining the life right out of you?
Can you somehow edit it?
Getting rid of parts of it or all of it or sharing the workload with someone else?
Alternatively,
Is there something that makes you smile,
That pulls the shine out of your soul and into your eyes?
How can you nurture that and get it to grow?
Inhale,
Exhale.
I'm not the first person who has used a garden as a metaphor for life,
But there are some things that have come to mind lately.
When something is overwhelming or confusing,
Get other people's perspectives.
I can't tell you how affirming it was for me to hear that seasoned gardeners were also overwhelmed by my garden multitudes.
The second is similar to the first,
Enlist support.
I asked a neighbor if he could help me get my lawnmower started.
It backfired and started some things on my garage on fire,
But I was thankful,
Handing him some soup and saying,
Thank you for your help and I'm really glad you didn't die.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Editing your life,
Might also mean figuring out how to get rid of the shrieking ghosts,
The vampires sucking you dry.
And to edit your life might not only mean cutting out or adding in,
It might also be shifting the narrative to better suit who you are and what is important in your life.
In my case,
While I haven't made a final decision yet,
I'm leaning heavily toward turning my many gardens into a low growing Prairie.
Letting the land return back to its natural state,
The one it was originally before herbicides and lawnmowers.
I love the solution for so many reasons.
Not only will it eliminate my weeding and possibly reduce my mowing time,
But it's also a turn to the wild.
It's an invitation to the winged things in the world.
Hey,
Here's a feast for you.
Come one,
Come all,
Rest and nourish yourself.
Inhale,
Exhale.
To edit your life,
Get clear about your vision.
What do you want in your life?
And what do you want out?
It's not always easy to answer that,
But try listening to your gut,
Making some choices and then living life like you mean it and like you want it.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Live light.
