The late Oliver Sacks said this about gardens: “All of us have had the experience of wandering through a lush garden or a timeless desert, walking by a river or an ocean, or climbing a mountain and finding ourselves simultaneously calmed and reinvigorated, engaged in mind, refreshed in body and spirit.” 

That’s how I feel. That’s it. That’s the blog post.

You thought I was done? I thought so, too. But I will add that last week, I felt consumed with worry about standards and meeting them. This week, all I want is for the calm that washes over me in gardens to stay with me as I navigate the challenges and monotony ahead. Gardens are evidence of life that doesn’t breathe or communicate in the way other living beings do, but it thrives with sunlight and plant food and water. It’s wondrous. It’s transformative … healing, even. Walking through a garden makes me feel lighter, freer, and present, as if a switch has been flipped on and my light is visible again. Granted, gardens aren’t potions for making problems or worry disappear. In fact, my anxiety feeds the aching weeds that grow and knot in my stomach. Still. A lesson from gardens that I’m still working to understand: even when I fail or miss the mark, I’m worth keeping watered with grace, compassion, and kindness. We all are.

(Photos of Traci’s Greenhouse in Clovis, New Mexico by myself and Jordan Mathews)