Finding my life garden in NY..... - Cottage In The Court

Thea Angella Merl…….sharing the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with me………..a place she visits frequently……………….

I just had to share a wonderfully refreshing experience while visiting the Big Apple. I had a very enlightening experience and quite an awakening conversation with an artist named Genesis. A very spiritual and talented young lady who knows who she is. We spoke of her journey to where she is today – a gay woman, a daughter, a teacher of math/ art and an artist who shows her work. We spoke of many things that she endured on her journey….a journey that is not finished but a journey that continues daily. Her art has soul, her sketches have spirit and you can feel her passion for her work as she interprets what she was thinking as she developed the pieces. I asked her if she had ever done any work pertaining to nature or gardening…I planted that seed in her mind and she promised to give that some thought. I strongly feel, particularly for those on their journey to completion, that embracing the earth and all it has to offer can take one back to our/their roots. Your roots are your heritage and without embracing your heritage, you can lose yourself in what society says is who you are.

Genesis spoke strongly, openly and honestly about her life choices and her Blessings. In fact she challenged me to follow through on the things I spoke passionately about – community, sharing through media thoughts on African American gardening and gardening in general, via the media and in print.

Now I am not really one of these folks who need to be competitive to survive. In fact, I would rather just do me and be happy. It is simply put…….easy. However, I was inspired by this young woman who was open, honest and dared me to make my words come to life. She is a friend of my youngest daughter, Thea – who reminds me of myself in many ways before marriage, divorce and the life that has followed. The ME with a beautiful life garden at my fingertips, the ME that allowed the weeds to blow in and found life too complicated to cultivate true joy.

Why and how do we let our life gardens get so overgrown that we cannot see the beauty and truth that lies before us? Did you ever think that if we cultivate joy and maintain peace and embrace spirituality as we continue on our journey through life, how much happier we would be?

I will be the first to admit that somewhere along my journey as wife, mother and finding the now ME, I allowed the weeds to grow and overwhelm my paths, so that I could no longer get through.

As I have matured, I am NOW making time to cut back the overgrown weeds, cultivate ongoing joy and lay a positive path for anything that should come my way. I am also going to embrace the new twist that sharing thoughts on gardening just might take me.