I think of weeds as roadblocks to what I thought I needed, my Plan A. But it turns out that they were more nuanced than that. ‘Weeds’ have been my Plans B, C, and D… and more. As I look back on the many plans of my life, I can’t say that most of them were particularly wrong. They were different than what I had envisioned. What I watered and nurtured bloomed. I’m grateful for these roadblocks or weeds, they have brought me to where I am today.
In the garden of life, weeds taught me to keep growing despite any unwanted things happening in my life. Not because of a future I cannot predict, but for my current strength. And you, too. Be as strong as you are now.
For this reflection, I am going to refer to weeds as those things that choke out, steal land, light and nutrients needed for my good plants!
So weeds in my life have taught me to try not to plant or nurture the things that stifle, choke, ruin or kill my healthy development. And yet sometimes I don’t notice something as a weed till it becomes harmful – then I have to remove it. And sometimes that is painful – but lesson learned!
Weeds are a bit like Spanish Moss, which in and of itself is not harmful and a bit of it can even make a tree look more beautiful to me. However, as the moss grows and expands, it begins to block sunlight from the limbs and saps out nutrients that the tree needs and after a time, the tree begins to weaken and die – unless the moss is removed or cut way back. And if cut back, yet some is still left on the tree, then the tree is always in danger of losing its health balance to the moss, without constant pruning of the moss.
So I often have to make decisions in my life to determine if something could be harmful to my health/growth (physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) even if it looks good or seems benign. I suppose -to keep my garden of life healthy and growing, I am constantly weeding😂
The first things I remember planting
were nasturtium seeds,
big, brown,
and as round as peas.
I kept them carefully weeded
and was rewarded
with bright orange, red, and yellow blooms.
Thus began my relationship with weeds . . .
they were something to be hated
and gotten rid of
at all costs,
for they would diminish,
if not eliminate the growth of desired plants.
It was only much later
that I learned
that many of the houseplants I bought
were actually indigenous growth,
i.e. weeds
from southern and tropical countries.
I understand the analogy of weeds vs. cultivated plants,
and in general,
abide by the rules,
but certain wildflowers
are irresistible.
When I first began my garden beds
here in Clover Reach,
after tackling the poison ivy,
I went after the more pernicious weeds,
pulling them out from between the hostas,
where they had insinuated themselves among the astilbe,
the irises, cone flowers and brown-eyed susans,
as well as my hand picked ground covers,
but they persisted,
and when late summer arrived
I was surprised to see,
blooming on tall stalks,
beautiful, translucent lavender bells . . .
campanula rapunculoides,
or creeping bellflower.
I had given up trying to kill them all
and now I started nurturing them . . .
an amazing thing.
Now
they grace my gardens everywhere
and seem to bloom earlier in the season as well,
enhancing the wildness I had intended.
So now,
I have trouble despising weeds . . .
they feed so many.
Hummingbirds
love the bell flowers
just as much as they do the echinacea . . .
the bees thrive on dandelions.
I am now convinced
that weeds have their place
and deserve to be honored too.
The ‘weeds’ have taught me
that they are here for a reason.
I know which ones add to my being
and those that detract
or truly diminish the being I am within.
Weeds serve their purpose
and are then no longer needed.
The sumac and scrub bushes
grow quickly
and fill an empty space to preserve the soil
until taller, more sturdy trees can grow and surpass them,
and as the forest fills out
they naturally die away.
Those are the weeds
that will no longer have space or longevity
in the soil of my heart,
and I let them go gladly.
But I’ll keep the creeping bellflower. ♥
I agree that every weed has a purpose, even if it’s not “our” purpose. The insects, birds, and others do love them. And sometimes they’re food for us, in different cultures or from different times. A lot to learn from weeds!
As I sit here in my messy little back yard. My actual garden. Looking at two piles of “weeds”, waiting to be hauled off to be composted. The remnants of plants that I thinned and trimmed out of my little yard. To a plant, the term “ weed” must be quite derogatory. It’s all just life. Living out its destiny. In fact, those plants were living despite my best efforts to eradicate them. Good for them. I’m sure they’ll be back. Their stubbornness is inspiring. I am so lucky. I get to pick and choose which plants I want in my little yard. Whatever plant might survive and bring me pleasure. Truly a primal urge. To shape our environment.
I guess the lesson from the “garden of life” is that there is no such thing as a weed. There is just life. Living, vibrating, blowing with the breeze. There is no “us and them”. We are all just forms of energy, worshipping the sun and the water and the air.
It’s through the weeds that I learned how to trust Life and myself. It’s through the weeds that I gained greater self awareness. I share a meditation from my 2008 Journal.
My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.
-Mel Weldon
Weeds are better than soil that does not have ground cover. Mind soil that does not have ground cover washes away and takes soul with it. Weeds can be our teacher. Weeds can bring challenge. Weeds can lead to risk and the development of trust—most importantly the ability to trust oneself. Weeds can birth tolerance and compassion and make room for flowers to grow. Besides who decided these plants we call weeds are not flowers? Yes, thoughts are seeds and it is when we think with duality, win/lose, right/wrong, that we lose the ability to have gratitude for what is.
I’m going to print this out and put it on my bulletin board, thank you Carol:
My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.
-Mel Weldon
I had some sweet pea “weeds” take up residence this year, they’re beautiful. Flowers as far as I’m concerned.
In life as in the garden, it helps if I get to know the weeds. Bindweed is like childhood conditioning: huge underground root network, encroaches and takes over if you don’t stay on top of it. Mallow is like a stubborn relationship issue, you pull at it with strength and care until the taproot comes out (and again, it spreads if you don’t tend to it). Purslane is little problems, like irritation driving on the freeway. Comes up quick, easy to pull.
They do! I especially like the bindweed flowers, as much as bindweed is endless work. Mallow is quite medicinal I think, and a beloved food in some Middle Eastern countries. Purselane is really nutritious, was brought here for that reason, and I leave it around as ground cover. Each weed has its own nature, that’s for sure.
Well said,
dear Drea . . .
I read something by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer about bindweed.
She recalls sitting with her mother
while she repeated a long tradition of pulling out the bindweed,
knowing she’d be pulling it out again in a few weeks.
There was no stress here,
no irritation . . .
it was simply a ritual she performed regularly.
I loved that image
and call it up
whenever I pull my own bindweed now. ♥
Yes, Drea. Roots are even more important than symptoms when resolving issues. Vicious cycles are the last things needed. For me, I make sure to address symptoms first. I find that going outside in for problem solving reduces rumination. Getting to the root is the end goal, and we’ll eventually get there. As I’ve said before on the old addage “Work smarter, not harder.”
Good ones, Yram. After all, Rome wasn’t built overnight. Building on my answer from yesterday, it took time for me to be more upfront in my communication. There’s only so much one can hold in, and we’re not built to go alone. After all, God puts people into our lives he knows who are best for us on our journey at various points.
It’s taught me discipline. I remember years ago, Angela posted a status on Facebook saying something along the lines of how discipline is the greatest form of self-love. The bible verse of the day aligns with this question. Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth.” I see the weeds as worldly pleasures and the natural world. Being a part of the RLM community has taught me to rise above that and be filled with Christ.
The are very tenacious. Filled with the desire to live and propagate. That is the quality that defines them. The unbridled force of life. They are a constant that needs disruption, cultivation, weeding and competition from other more desirable growth. They are also as necessary as contentment, sadness. light, dark, wet and dry. They are a part of life. One of the myriads of challenges and complications. They are not the end all but a path to freedom, if I only look at them with the due respect called for.
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I think of weeds as roadblocks to what I thought I needed, my Plan A. But it turns out that they were more nuanced than that. ‘Weeds’ have been my Plans B, C, and D… and more. As I look back on the many plans of my life, I can’t say that most of them were particularly wrong. They were different than what I had envisioned. What I watered and nurtured bloomed. I’m grateful for these roadblocks or weeds, they have brought me to where I am today.
In the garden of life, weeds taught me to keep growing despite any unwanted things happening in my life. Not because of a future I cannot predict, but for my current strength. And you, too. Be as strong as you are now.
Yes, my Ngoc. Unwanted things happening is normal.
Very good take on the question,
dear Ngoc . . .
keep growing. ♥
For this reflection, I am going to refer to weeds as those things that choke out, steal land, light and nutrients needed for my good plants!
So weeds in my life have taught me to try not to plant or nurture the things that stifle, choke, ruin or kill my healthy development. And yet sometimes I don’t notice something as a weed till it becomes harmful – then I have to remove it. And sometimes that is painful – but lesson learned!
Weeds are a bit like Spanish Moss, which in and of itself is not harmful and a bit of it can even make a tree look more beautiful to me. However, as the moss grows and expands, it begins to block sunlight from the limbs and saps out nutrients that the tree needs and after a time, the tree begins to weaken and die – unless the moss is removed or cut way back. And if cut back, yet some is still left on the tree, then the tree is always in danger of losing its health balance to the moss, without constant pruning of the moss.
So I often have to make decisions in my life to determine if something could be harmful to my health/growth (physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) even if it looks good or seems benign. I suppose -to keep my garden of life healthy and growing, I am constantly weeding😂
I resonate with constantly weeding! Thank you for this. Sometimes the things that stifle and choke really are sneaky.
Don’t get stuck in the weeds & stay there too long. Let go…
And don’t give up.
Keep on truckin……🎶
🕊️❤️
‘What a long strange trip its been’ . . . . . . 🎵
The first things I remember planting
were nasturtium seeds,
big, brown,
and as round as peas.
I kept them carefully weeded
and was rewarded
with bright orange, red, and yellow blooms.
Thus began my relationship with weeds . . .
they were something to be hated
and gotten rid of
at all costs,
for they would diminish,
if not eliminate the growth of desired plants.
It was only much later
that I learned
that many of the houseplants I bought
were actually indigenous growth,
i.e. weeds
from southern and tropical countries.
I understand the analogy of weeds vs. cultivated plants,
and in general,
abide by the rules,
but certain wildflowers
are irresistible.
When I first began my garden beds
here in Clover Reach,
after tackling the poison ivy,
I went after the more pernicious weeds,
pulling them out from between the hostas,
where they had insinuated themselves among the astilbe,
the irises, cone flowers and brown-eyed susans,
as well as my hand picked ground covers,
but they persisted,
and when late summer arrived
I was surprised to see,
blooming on tall stalks,
beautiful, translucent lavender bells . . .
campanula rapunculoides,
or creeping bellflower.
I had given up trying to kill them all
and now I started nurturing them . . .
an amazing thing.
Now
they grace my gardens everywhere
and seem to bloom earlier in the season as well,
enhancing the wildness I had intended.
So now,
I have trouble despising weeds . . .
they feed so many.
Hummingbirds
love the bell flowers
just as much as they do the echinacea . . .
the bees thrive on dandelions.
I am now convinced
that weeds have their place
and deserve to be honored too.
The ‘weeds’ have taught me
that they are here for a reason.
I know which ones add to my being
and those that detract
or truly diminish the being I am within.
Weeds serve their purpose
and are then no longer needed.
The sumac and scrub bushes
grow quickly
and fill an empty space to preserve the soil
until taller, more sturdy trees can grow and surpass them,
and as the forest fills out
they naturally die away.
Those are the weeds
that will no longer have space or longevity
in the soil of my heart,
and I let them go gladly.
But I’ll keep the creeping bellflower. ♥
I agree that every weed has a purpose, even if it’s not “our” purpose. The insects, birds, and others do love them. And sometimes they’re food for us, in different cultures or from different times. A lot to learn from weeds!
Amazing,
isn’t it,
dear Drea?
Generations long before ours
understood more fully
the value of weeds. ♥
A wonderful ode to weeds, dear Sparrow. Thank you.
Weeds are people too,
as you know,
dear Joseph . . . 🙂
Beautifully said, Sparrow.
Thank you,
dear Emmaleah . . . ♥
As I sit here in my messy little back yard. My actual garden. Looking at two piles of “weeds”, waiting to be hauled off to be composted. The remnants of plants that I thinned and trimmed out of my little yard. To a plant, the term “ weed” must be quite derogatory. It’s all just life. Living out its destiny. In fact, those plants were living despite my best efforts to eradicate them. Good for them. I’m sure they’ll be back. Their stubbornness is inspiring. I am so lucky. I get to pick and choose which plants I want in my little yard. Whatever plant might survive and bring me pleasure. Truly a primal urge. To shape our environment.
I guess the lesson from the “garden of life” is that there is no such thing as a weed. There is just life. Living, vibrating, blowing with the breeze. There is no “us and them”. We are all just forms of energy, worshipping the sun and the water and the air.
Yes!
Very true, Charlie. Thank you.
“We are all just forms of energy, worshiping the sun and the water and the air. ” – 💗🌞💦🕯
…together.
I love this,
dear Michele. ♥
Amen, Charlie!
“There is no “us and them”.” So true Charlie.
I couldn’t agree with you more,
dear Charlie . . .
weeds are people too. ♥
It’s through the weeds that I learned how to trust Life and myself. It’s through the weeds that I gained greater self awareness. I share a meditation from my 2008 Journal.
My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.
-Mel Weldon
Weeds are better than soil that does not have ground cover. Mind soil that does not have ground cover washes away and takes soul with it. Weeds can be our teacher. Weeds can bring challenge. Weeds can lead to risk and the development of trust—most importantly the ability to trust oneself. Weeds can birth tolerance and compassion and make room for flowers to grow. Besides who decided these plants we call weeds are not flowers? Yes, thoughts are seeds and it is when we think with duality, win/lose, right/wrong, that we lose the ability to have gratitude for what is.
I’m going to print this out and put it on my bulletin board, thank you Carol:
My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.
-Mel Weldon
I had some sweet pea “weeds” take up residence this year, they’re beautiful. Flowers as far as I’m concerned.
In life as in the garden, it helps if I get to know the weeds. Bindweed is like childhood conditioning: huge underground root network, encroaches and takes over if you don’t stay on top of it. Mallow is like a stubborn relationship issue, you pull at it with strength and care until the taproot comes out (and again, it spreads if you don’t tend to it). Purslane is little problems, like irritation driving on the freeway. Comes up quick, easy to pull.
I looked up each one – they all have pretty flowers.
They do! I especially like the bindweed flowers, as much as bindweed is endless work. Mallow is quite medicinal I think, and a beloved food in some Middle Eastern countries. Purselane is really nutritious, was brought here for that reason, and I leave it around as ground cover. Each weed has its own nature, that’s for sure.
Well said,
dear Drea . . .
I read something by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer about bindweed.
She recalls sitting with her mother
while she repeated a long tradition of pulling out the bindweed,
knowing she’d be pulling it out again in a few weeks.
There was no stress here,
no irritation . . .
it was simply a ritual she performed regularly.
I loved that image
and call it up
whenever I pull my own bindweed now. ♥
Oh, I’m going to remember that. The bindweed really does have staying power, but why feel bothered about it?
Beautifully said, Drea. It helps if we are rooted in love.
Carol, it really does.
Yes, Drea. Roots are even more important than symptoms when resolving issues. Vicious cycles are the last things needed. For me, I make sure to address symptoms first. I find that going outside in for problem solving reduces rumination. Getting to the root is the end goal, and we’ll eventually get there. As I’ve said before on the old addage “Work smarter, not harder.”
Loc, very true. The symptoms tell us about the root. Thank you.
Persistence and patience.
Good ones, Yram. After all, Rome wasn’t built overnight. Building on my answer from yesterday, it took time for me to be more upfront in my communication. There’s only so much one can hold in, and we’re not built to go alone. After all, God puts people into our lives he knows who are best for us on our journey at various points.
Resiliency.
It’s taught me discipline. I remember years ago, Angela posted a status on Facebook saying something along the lines of how discipline is the greatest form of self-love. The bible verse of the day aligns with this question. Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth.” I see the weeds as worldly pleasures and the natural world. Being a part of the RLM community has taught me to rise above that and be filled with Christ.
Persistence and beauty in unexpected places.
The are very tenacious. Filled with the desire to live and propagate. That is the quality that defines them. The unbridled force of life. They are a constant that needs disruption, cultivation, weeding and competition from other more desirable growth. They are also as necessary as contentment, sadness. light, dark, wet and dry. They are a part of life. One of the myriads of challenges and complications. They are not the end all but a path to freedom, if I only look at them with the due respect called for.
Peace, Love & Light.
You’ve got to admire weeds,
dear Joseph,
for their tenacity
and desire to live. ♥
Thank you, Joseph. The wisdom of a gardener!
Truth.
Thank you for the reflection.
Resilience…..