Landscaping - Meditation in Nature
Going from managing 0 sq ft of four seasons landscape to 43,560 sq ft of year-round growing landscape has been an interesting lifestyle change.
I didn’t know this: 43,560 sq ft is one acre.
When the weather is so temperate for humans to live in - everything else does too!
Grass, flowers, trees, weeds…
and this means one has to manage the garden continuously - or things get out of hand!
As much as I hated landscaping growing up - I am learning to like landscaping now for this key reason:
When I am doing landscaping work, I am meditating in nature.
By landscaping work, I mean cutting the plants using a weed eater or lawn mower.
When I am landscaping - I am just outside, on my own and have one task: operate the machine to get the job done. I have to be present - because the moment I am not, bad things can happen. My family is away because I am operating a machine that may hurt them. The machines are so noisy, I can’t listen to other things.
Since I have landscaping tools that are electric - the smells are only from the landscaping work.
In other words - I am present in nature.
I never had this experience before - just being present in nature.
After every landscaping session - I’m tired and have a clear mind.
Best of all, every time I look out the window into my yard, I see the results of my landscaping meditation.