.....seeing what's possible

Yogis,
Last year our town began a beautification project. Plantings along the side of the road in the grassy strip that separates the cars from the bike/walking path. All to be done through a combination of town funds, private donations and the hard work and sweat of volunteering residents.

This year in the annual citizen associations dues letter I opted to check the box next to this project as the area in which I would be willing to get involved. As a gardener this was right up my ally. A couple of phone calls and emails later I find myself meeting in the rain with two women who were charged with showing me ‘my spot’ of responsibility and the persistent weeds that were causing them frustration.

The area runs the length of a front yard and is planted with several grasses, a few lilies and one flowering plant. But what my eye was most drawn to was all the space between the plants, covered only with mulch. Dotting this mulch were these two uninvited guests, poking their heads up, that upon closer examination I found to be quite tenacious.

When there is space, something will grow. This is a law of the Universe. We may want a clear open mulch covered space, but that isn’t how nature works.

I had two visions. One was of me out there every week in the 90-degree heat without shade resisting and battling nature. What have I gotten myself into? This clearly did not appeal to me. The second was of me placing more plants in the area that were beautiful to the eye, hardy and self sufficient…..and maybe even would spread over time. Now this I could get behind! I asked if I was allowed to plant and was answered with a resounding yes. Ok then…..

Within an hour I had gone home, dug up about 8 small bunches of black eyed susans and several strands of oregano and had them in the dirt. My vision was beginning to take shape. I decided more color was needed so I started some zinnia seeds in my indoor garden which will be ready in two weeks. I can see it.

This all got me thinking about where we are right now. So much change, upheaval and uncertainty. A historic time where much of how we have lived is being burned away (some even literally). Vacations, restaurant dining, school, human interactions all pulled back for this moment in time creating enormous space. What will we do with it?

We can wait, complain and resist, hoping things return to ‘normal’, or we can create new. We have an opportunity to choose between pulling weeds or planting a new garden. In open space human creativity thrives because there are no boundaries. A blank canvas. We need to think big!

One example. In the paper this week there was an article on Forest Schools. I have read about them in the past and they seemed like a nice idea, but. Yet here we are wondering how to teach our children and there are those with a vision that a child learns more in the outdoors, with lots of movement, fresh air and space. Hmmm.

No one seemed to be able to figure out how to reduce our unsustainable traffic growth, and here we all sit working from home. Where could this go? And after the fires of the protests extinguish there will be a cleared empty space for conversation. Will history show we pulled weeds or imagined what could be? See big.

‘Nature Abhors a Vacuum’  ~Aristotle

Om,
SARAH