Planting Seeds

Yesterday was a new moon, an auspicious time for setting new intentions. Each time we set an intention, it is like planting a seed for what we want to blossom in our lives. Any skilled gardener knows that it is helpful to visualize and plan what kind of garden we want to cultivate before planting it. Do we want a Japanese garden, a raised bed vegetable-garden, a vibrant flower patch with a gazebo or some kind of hybrid mix of wildflowers and edibles in our backyard?

Ultimately, what do we want the fruits of our labors to look like? In this writing exercise, we explore that question by “beginning with the end in mind” as Stephen Covey suggests in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This exercise will take us on a journey to the end of our lives and give us an opportunity to envision what kinds of gardens we hope to leave behind and what we might need to learn now to make that possible.

I recommend working on this exercise a little bit each day throughout this month as a spiritual practice – each time opening with the following meditation practice or one of your own if you prefer.  If weather permits, take a slow, silent walk in nature as a meditation. Then, complete at least one of the 5 to 10 minute non-stop writing exercises. Notice during the each week what brings you life or calls to you most deeply. These are likely clues to what you want your garden to contain.

Suggested Beginning Meditation: Find a seated position in a chair or on a meditation cushion and sit with your spine erect but not so stiff that it is uncomfortable. Allow your weight to drop down into the chair or cushion. Feel your hips supported and resting while the upper half of your body rises upward. Imagine yourself with deep roots growing down into the earth – like a plant – while at the same stretching upward through your “stem” toward the sun. For the next little while, let go of “to do lists” and any judgments you might have about taking time to nourish yourself. Close your eyes, and begin to bring your focus to breath. Without judgment just take note of its quality – slow, fast, deep, shallow, tight, free, etc. And continue to breathe, as a neutral observer of your own body. Then, place your hands gently on your lower abdomen – a few inches below your belly button. See if you can sense a slight and rise and fall to your abdomen as you breathe. No need to force this or control it. Just feel into what is happening in your body. As you breathe in feel your belly rise, and as you exhale feel your belly deflate. After you feel the rhythm, imagine breathing in nourishment and love, and exhaling judgment and fear.  Don’t force this, just let it be an intention for the exercise. Sit for 5 to 10 minutes continuing this breath practice. Then, release the imagery and just focus on the natural rise and fall of the belly as you breathe. Finally, release the breath and your hands from your belly and, sit for a few moments.  In the inward silence, allow yourself to feel your hips rooted deeply into the earth and your upper body or “stem” stretching upward toward the light.

Writing Exercise:  Whether you think it is realistic or not, imagine that you live to be 100. Create a brainstorm list of what you might want your obituary to say about you and your life. Approach this exercise through the eyes of your best friend or someone you can imagine that has enormous positive belief in you. Do not judge what you write as possible, impossible, true, untrue, etc. Just write what comes. I suggest writing for 5 to 10 minutes without lifting your hand off the page. This is called non-stop writing, a technique recommended by author Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, and can be a wonderful tool to help you overcome fear, doubt and the analytic mind. Even if you have to write: blah, blah, blah, keep that hand moving across the page. Your brain will provide another coherent thought as long as your hand is moving. Respond to each of the writing prompts below as a non-stop writing exercise each day. Don’t forget to stop after each prompt, and shake out the tension in your hand! Gardening is hard work.

What made you, uniquely you during your life?

What were your strengths?

What were your most important relationships?

How did you handle life’s difficulties and what did you learn from them?

What were some of your accomplishments?

What were some of your failures and what did you learn from them?

What will you leave behind (this can be offspring, people you mentored, material goods, qualities, ideas, a business, etc.?

How would you describe your essence?

After creating the list for your obituary, write a paragraph or so about what you learned from doing the exercise. What feelings and thoughts are moving in you? Are there stories you are telling yourself about who you are that are true or untrue? How might you approach life and yourself differently from here forward as a result of the exercise? Are there any amends you want to make to others (including yourself) in order to grow the garden you desire? Will you make them? Are there habits or weeds that need to be pulled to make room for your dreams to grow? What is your “take away” from the exercise? If you are inclined, draw a picture or sketch of the garden you intend to create with your life choices.