THE MANY ROOTS OF THE GARDEN

 


 

    I envisioned the garden. I sowed the seeds of the garden. I watered the garden. I harvested the garden. The garden was my hands, built from my intention that fueled my energy to create and form. But more than that, the garden involves the many moments beyond the designing of the garden, and sowing the seeds, for the garden also involves when the sun catches then garden during the day, or when the rain falls on the garden, or when I walk in the garden looking at the flowers and the stems and the soil. All of these add to my original idea of the garden. From my original creation of a garden, I created infinite possibilities involving those moments of the garden within the garden and linked to the garden.
    In my heart, I decided to grow vegetables, even though I had never grown vegetables before. Instead of seeing the space in my backyard as the site of my garden, I looked at other sites always seeking the spot for the garden. Then  I listened to the voice of my loved one, and her words opened my eyes to the truth that had always been before me: the space for the garden was right here.
    As a result, the garden became a reality of my desire, created by my heart and my hands. From the bricks that covered the dirt, I placed the bricks that formed the garden that held the soil, creating a high and thick 12 inch zone for roots to prosper.
    Before the garden, my heart had been closed, and had blocked the spirit fo the garden from entering my heart. In this blockage, my heart had aimlessly drifted here and there, and was crying in the sadness of being thwarted by my refusal to hear. It was only the sweet voice of my loved one that reconnected me with my heart, and then I was able to plan the garden, and see the garden.
    However, my original idea to create a garden in my backyard has grown into multiple dimensions of what the garden has become at different moments of the day, and how the garden is now more than just one idea. For now it is many ideas, circling around the one idea. So that the gardener I am in one minute shifts to the gardener of another minute.
    The seeds I chose best represented the garden that would represent the qualities that best represent myself. My garden is a world that formed by my reality. I represent the planting creator. My garden is then an extension of my inner vision yet visibly evident but orbiting my inner gardener.
    I hoped to grow vegetables in a square plot of land that would be illuminated by light. Some areas of my garden were mostly in shade, while others had ample sunlight throughout the day. This arc of sunlight seems to suggest a theme for my work. That is, each seed grew according to its own perceived sense of light, and in ratio to its receiving of the sunlight in harmony with its intent.
    As the sunlight comes from the east, and falls upon the side of the house, so the sunlight does not strike the ground until it begins to rise from the circling of the earth. So that it seems to light when it is just continuing to shine. So the seeds closest to the house, which lie in an open area to the sky and sun, receive the most sunlight during the day. Then, the other seeds that grow in the shaded areas, will receive less sun. So, it seems that this receiving of light present the theme of my personality. The garden is a measure of  the light that I receive in the different times of my life. Then, each seed will be a way for me to talk about the light and how I respond to the light of the sun. Thus, my movements in life, will be like the sun moving in my garden.

 

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