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Connectedness -Lessons from Garden – Entry Two
The
holiday season, from Halloween through the New Year brings a lot of
energy to me. We enjoyed Thanksgiving, my daughter’s 34th
birthday, my husband’s birthday and mine within one week‘s time.
Phew. I love it, it’s fun.
It reminds me of how glorious it is to be
with others you love….and how vibrant it feels to know that we truly are
all one.
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I wanted to write this month’s
newsletter as a continuation of my Lessons from the Garden.
This is Entry Two and it is a reflection
about Connectedness. Feeling connected, having a sense of belongingness,
is listed on Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as one of a human’s
highest needs. Maslow is known as The Father of Humanistic Psychology
and a great healer himself. Connectedness is a feeling, a
sense, of belonging with others, to others, as well as a connectedness
to one’s self. We truly are a part of one another.
We are dependent on each other for love, we
depend on the plants for food and we learn over our lifetime that we are
all connected. I have worked on connecting with myself, with creating
and then enhancing a sense of self-worth and self-esteem for many, many
years. Throughout my young life, I often felt unconnected to those
around me.
However,
I did feel a deep connection to the earth, the plants and being outside
in Nature.
Yearning for the sweet connection to other
human souls, I began my search, starting within.
Through years of counseling, reading and
various other methods of introspection, I believe I found that
connection.
I believe that one must connect with
themselves, deeply, before the ability to connect with others can arise.Being in the garden and being in
Nature has taught me the value of connectedness.
Listening to the sound of the wind and the
songs of the birds on an early morning garden walk has shown me, without
a doubt, that universal connectedness.
We are all one. This sense of connection
brings a peacefulness that is exquisite. Life often throws us into
stressful circumstances.
Seven
years ago when my husband was very ill, I sought out the peacefulness
and connectedness of the garden.
The garden calmed me, helped me to relax, be
in the moment, and feel a sense of accomplishment and success. Then it
was back to caretaking.Feeling connected to Nature, has
enabled me to connect in even a deeper way to myself.
The garden is my Sanctuary, my church, my
walking meditation. Knowing that we are all connected, a manifestation
of the same energy, has encouraged me to study and practice the
philosophy and the teachings of Buddhism. Buddha realized that all
beings, all material things are the same, only residing in different
containers for a specific time period.
Buddhism is teaching me many things about
connectedness. Feeling this powerful sense of
connectedness in my garden has led me to practice other methods of
ex periencing deeper connections.
Another practice that I love is Yoga.
Becoming disciplined and practicing Yoga several times a week has helped
lead me to feel a fuller sense of freedom.
Freedom in my body, freedom in my mind and
freedom in my spirit.
The physical postures are wonderful. They
stretch your muscles, helping to keep your joints supple and strong, and
encourage you to go a bit behind your comfort zone.
My meditation practice has helped me to
realize the immense love that is within me, for all other living beings,
for the animals, the plants and for all life.
My wish for you is to find this profound
sense of connection.
Begin in the garden.
 C |