Worth the Wait

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

— Audrey Hepburn

I was inspired by a blog post my daughter wrote recently. I'll include the link at the end.

In summary, it's about how many of us can't wait for the spring to finally show up. With our long winters, which seem to get longer each year, we're impatient for that warm weather, to shed our coats and boots- for good! We want the grass to green up, the flowers to bloom, the buds on the trees to pop- NOW already.

And some of us who have gardens are anxiously awaiting for signs of those tiny shoots poking through the earth, still chilled by the season past. But in taking another look, there is more that can be seen, and felt.

My daughter's words say it best: "Today I came out to investigate my garden. There is a lot of dead stuff in there. Dried leaves and sticks and weeds. All of it brown and grey and very, very dead. I want to take a rake and pull it all out. Clean it up. Leave nothing but rich brown soil and fresh green shoots.

But I can't. Because of those fresh green shoots. They need the dead stuff. They need it still. They need the mulch. And they need time... more time.

If I took a rake and dragged its stiff, pointy bristles across the soil, those tender, precious shoots and their tender, precious roots would be ripped out, along with the dead-looking but nutrient-dense dead stuff I want to evacuate". 

This made me think of times when I've been in a rush to get rid of some old pattern or state of mind or to have a fresh new and improved body. Or as Camille says- "to take an eraser and rub out the messy scribbles in our lives"..

There is so much 'mulch'- that nutrient rich stuff- that lies within our imperfect selves. It is just as important in life-for without it, we couldn't grow those new tender new shoots that spring forward when the time is right.

And as Camille says- "I need to resist the urge to clean up the mess and let the new life happen on its own time: painfully slow, but certain.

And it is certain. Because even after the harshest, longest winter, spring always comes".

So when we come to our mats this evening, bring your patience and compassion along with you. Bring your optimism, and your faith.

Because no matter what season you may be in- there is always something green growing down inside that mulch.

Namaste. _/l\_

"When All You Can Do is Wait" by Camille DePutter

http://www.camilledeputter.com/blog/2015/4/26/n0dskh7a617xksogn1kli630h8ue3a