(Estimated reading time 1 1/2 minutes)
My husband says I am a finger gardener. From a comfortable spot on the deck, sipping a cold drink, I’ll point at some plant and say in my sweetest voice, “Could you move that plant over there?” I love the look of a beautiful garden but not the work that goes along with it. This year I was determined that our huge garden would be more plants than weeds. The vision was enticing enough for me to grab my tools and get started. I soon realised that I truly hate weeding. I persevered for at least an hour annoyed by the ache in my back and the sweat on my skin. It was at that point that I realised that if I really wanted to have a weed free garden bed I needed to find a way to enjoy the process.
I am wondering if there are other areas in my life where I want to be at the tidy, beautiful, check-that-off-my-list end before I’ve even begun to do the work. Are there other areas where I want to avoid the hard, gritty work necessary to achieve my goals. I am intrigued by the idea that it is possible to find a way to enjoy the process, the present moment, no matter how difficult it is, by finding hidden joys within the challenges, by searching for silver linings and gold in the dirt.
Weeding is still not my favourite activity but it is an important part of reaching my gardening goal and while my body is busy pulling weeds my mind, free to roam, comes at last to an uncluttered rest.
Here’s to living with clarity, courage, compassion and confidence!
Beyond the Shadow 
That is exactly why I love cleaning ovens and working in the garden. No telephones, no interruptions and time to think. Concentrating on the job is like a meditation. And the satisfaction of a job well done is instant gratification.
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I understand where you are coming from, I think. I have a long list of ToDo items that I don’t want to actually ‘do’ in order to get done. Instead I just add to it each year and feel as though my free time for myself has been (irrationally) thieved and therefore not as enjoyable as it could be. Your post brought Mary Poppins to mind when she says,”In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun, you find the fun and, snap the job’s a game.”
Living is a job that must be done, it’s up to us to find the element in daily life that makes us happy and, snap, we ARE happy. So the theory goes.
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I like the way you describe the feeling of your free time being “thieved”. Thanks for commenting and for reading my blog Genevieve!
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