Cultivating Your Inner Garden- Preparing the Soil

After the gardener has tilled their garden they still are not quite ready to start the planting.  Final preparations of the soil are needed.  Many gardeners spread compost over the garden prior to tilling.  If there is old growth it needs to be pulled and thrown into the compost pile so that the breaking down of materials in the compost pile will help to feed the soil when this working compost is tilled into the garden next year.  This way the gardener knows that nutrients are being returned to the soil in a way that enables the plants to grow healthy and strong.

Composting The Old: The compost pile – yes – that pile of odoriferous sometimes steamy stuff in the back of grandma’s garden – has a spiritual connection as well.  Just as the compost pile has an important part in the garden, we have our compost in our Spiritual Garden of the Soul.  A compost pile stinks frankly because things are rotting, what was once living is now dead and breaking down.  But it is from the nutrients created in that breaking down and rotting that helps create the fertile environment of the gardener’s soil.

The negativity we encounter during a day, our fears, our doubts, and more are so much compost in our lives.  Just as what is thrown into the compost pile ends up serving a valuable service for the healthy garden, we must properly learn to deal with the compost of our lives.  We all have a Spiritual Compost Pile!  It’s where we keep all those fears, doubts, and loneliness; our failures and unrealized but broken dreams.  These create our spiritual compost pile.

Reviewing Your Past Results: Just as the farmer has to turn the compost and stir up  the various peelings, rotting veggies, half eaten fruit (and other things that can no longer be identified) to have the compost ready for the garden, we need to review our successes. Yes – it’s always fun to review what comes out right and it is a great way to get successful results again; however, we can also learn much, if not more, through our mistakes and missteps.  Looking over them is important.  But getting stuck and dwelling on those issues- maybe not so much!

There is a big difference between dwelling on a mistake and looking at it to see where the lesson is.  It is much easier to remove the negativity that is brought into our Garden of the Soul with doubts and fears.  While some doubts and fears are normal the problems arise if we hold on to them too long.  Much like the gardener who isn’t mindful of how big the compost pile is getting, our Garden of the Soul can become overrun with negative thoughts, doubts and fears, inadequacies and, a feeling of disconnect from the human race (others) and our faith.

Making Room for the New: The good gardener keeps a sharp eye on the compost pile.  Even the pleasant distraction of a visit from family for a few days can mean totally altered compost pile once you return to your gardening duties. Adjustments must be made and some of the kitchen veggie scraps may need to be withheld for a time so that the new matter doesn’t overrun the pile and change its chemistry.  With a judicious eye the gardener watches the compost pile to make sure it doesn’t outgrow its appointed space; that its chemistry is kept to the right Ph level; adding other components such as dirt; making sure that that the right things are kept for the compost bucket, and that the trash is thrown out as it should be.

In our Garden of the Soul we need to make sure we are good gardeners as well!  Once we have looked at an issue or problem we have experienced it is time to forgive ourselves the mistake (if there is one), take the lesson, incorporate it as we go forward and, most importantly, gently let go of any additional negativity the event has brought us.

Just as the gardener has to be judicious about what is kept for compost and what is thrown in the trash, we have to be as well.  In order to truly be able to release that part of the experience which no longer serves us we have to know what part from the experience does serve us.  By an honest review and judicious reflection we are able to discern which is which.  Once that is done we can release our limitations and grasp our future with both hands.

Join us next week as we move into every gardener’s favorite season- planting!