Walking in the Garden of Life

"A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in—what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him, the stars." - Victor Hugo

I grew up in a rural area. My parents property backed onto a forest with a stream meandering through it that I spent many hours around as I grew up. The forested area led to a large meadow. We always had a large vegetable garden and my mother had several flower gardens on the property.

I couldn’t help but see the constantly unfolding nature around me. The constant life cycle from the awakening in the spring through the settling in to get through the winter, the nature around me was constantly moving in an intricate tapestry of life. The woods and the meadow were a garden of nature. The garden my parents grew would provide beauty and feed us, the woods and meadow gardens were an ecosystem of mutual support.

There was a small pond that would form every year after the spring thaw. We called it the tadpole pond as every year the tadpoles would appear and over a few months develop into frogs. Late in the year, the pond would dry up and then reappear in the spring. For a youngster like me, it was like something magical, appearing just so the frogs could grow.

I never thought much about where the frogs went but we did find them along the stream. The stream made it’s way through the countryside to emerge into Lake Ontario. We would see the trout making their way upstream each spring to spawn and go through their life cycle in various deeper areas. We called them fishing holes as they were the spots where we’d go to catch them and enjoy an occasional dinner provided by them.

Whether you walk through a cultivated garden or one designed by nature, it’s hard not to be reminded of the interconnectedness of life. Nature is a huge web of interconnection and interdependence. When allowed to let the ecosystem work as it’s meant to, its continuity is assured.

I can remember settling down on a log on the edge of the meadow and watching almost a symphony of nature as birds, moths, butterflies and likely insects too small for me to see would flit around the swaying plants in the meadow meeting their needs to survive. I could and often did spend hours watching this play out.

I suspect those experiences of watching nature in action contributed to my strongly held belief that there are powers greater than us at play in the world. As much as science thinks they can explain everything, there is always more for them to figure out as life plays out.

There is an energy that weaves its way through our existence. Its most noticable in nature. It shows up in people through our interconnectedness. The energetic bond between a mother and her offspring is a very noticable manifestation of the connectedness. Science has documented energetic awareness between people often hundreds of miles apart.

You want to notice how connected we are to nature?

Take a quiet walk in a wooded area or even through gardens. Take note of the shift in mood you’ll experience. By quiet walk, I mean, put away the devices and don’t feel the need to engage in conversation. Spend some time with yourself and nature. You may be surprised at feelings you’ve not given yourself time for before.

Shadowspub writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc. Her Nicheless Narrative podcast airs on Thursdays each week.

NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s.

Some of the image work may have been done in Midjourney for which I hold a licence to use the imges commercially.

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