I used to really hate doing menial chores of any kind. Growing up I had sets of chores to do and hated even having to do them. I did them anyway just so I can be allowed to go out and play. Chore was just something I had to endure in order to get me where I actually wanted to be. My mind was always in the future.
However, lately I've started to fall in love with a chore. I started turning the tasks of sorting laundry into some kind of mindfulness meditation exercise. Lately I've cherished these moments of solo tasking as opposed to multi-tasking. When I focus on the article in my hand and what I must do with it, I find I am anchored to the present. The sane happens also when I'm doing the dishes, and now it appears, also with weeding the garden.
The first choice is categorizing which are plants that are permanent residents, and which plants are unwelcome for that particular patch of soil. Next thing is learning how to positively identify weed species: what are their features? what do their leaves and buds look like? what's the best way of removing the weed while inflicting as little harm as possible to neighbouring desirable plants.
I then had the insight that the garden could be a metaphor for my mind,
and that every plant is an idea
... that branches into even more ideas
... that they can intertwine and interweave
and thrive
or die.
And that grand forest of ideas all sprouts from tiny seeds that were once a single thought.
Not all those thoughts are my own. Many are deliberately put there by other people, with commercial interests. News, Opinion, Advertisements, Street Art, Pop Music, School, the list is endless.
If my mind is my garden, which ideas do I spend the most time on? Was it my own? Are these ideas the best ones to nurture and bear fruit? Or have I plenty of weeds in my garden? Ideas that don't belong or don't serve, yet take up valuable space and time. Some of these have deep roots. Do I have the tenacity and the courage to get at the core of that idea and let it go?
It's common sense that we watch what we ingest, we know not to drink poison and to prefer yummy over less tasty regardless of how we are told they are good for us. Same with our thoughts, we generally choose what to think, yet we are influenced from outside.
Until I saw that ad, I wasn't thirsty, or hungry. Until I saw that ad, I was quite satisfied with my car and my home. Until I saw that I ad, I felt confident, attractive, sexy. These were thoughts put into my brain by relentless advertising, all screaming for my attention. All, sadly, at the expense of other thoughts that I could have chosen to reflect, even enjoy sometimes.
Sometimes, it's not even advertising. Sometimes it's just the people in our lives. That grumpy co-worker who spreads negativity all over, do we really want to let ugly seeds take root in our garden? How about that offensive tweet/meme/social media post, is it fertilizer for some outrage that's already spreading in our minds?
I have invasive thoughts and ideas that threaten to overgrow and suffocate my own ideas, my hopes, my dreams. Where did this idea come from? Something I watched or read on the internet? A news clip? A blog? A movie? A book? Perhaps some narrative that I made out of my own personal experiences? After some reflection, do I need this in my mental garden? How can I pull out this weed and keep it from returning into my garden?
Or maybe it is a great idea and totally supports my values, my relationships, my journey, my ambitions. Ideas like these need to be nurtured and given time and energy. Prune the dead branches, nurture it with time and energy, we can even graft and intertwine with other ideas, and eventually with hope it will bear fruit.
Don't let the weeds take up your time and energy, give it instead to the garden that you want to have.
