rejuvenated
Dear Ciara,
It has been some time since I’ve written. I took the holidays to actually rejuvenate, to realign myself, and honestly—I’m feeling refreshed for the first time in a long time. The move was exhausting, and I felt all the changes associated with it creeping into my work life. But now, something has shifted. Part of it, I admit, has been because of recent changes I have made to the way I engage with the world. Like many, I had a tendency to doomscroll—to seek solace in the endless scroll—but a few weeks ago my phone just stopped. For a few days, while I waited for repairs, I was completely without it.
During the first two days without it, I kept reaching for my pocket in moments of silence, desperately searching for the companionship it offered. By the third day, I had completely forgotten about it. My spare time became filled with reading, with thinking, and I found that I no longer needed to be constantly stimulated. When eating a meal at work, for example, I didn’t need to scroll. I was happy to just to sit and eat. To be present.
It brought back a memory from my childhood: spending a few days at school on a retreat at the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple. The core of my time there was spent focused on cultivating mindfulness: mindfully eating, reading, gardening, work etc. So, when I received my phone newly-repaired, I deleted all non-essential apps and took some practices to make my phone “dumber”. I have never felt more clear-headed. I'm not trying to preach here, I am just expressing my experience.
What else have I been doing since I last wrote? Well, The Organist and I have been working tirelessly in our garden. We’ve pruned back most of the large fruit trees, particularly the banana plants which were wild and out-of-hand. I’ve also been working on my front pollinator/bird garden, planting some agaves, more flowers, and some native gingers. So far, everything seems happy, although sometimes I wish I could fast-forward just to see how all my plants will fill out. There is far too much negative space for my liking, but I know that I need to be patient.
My next task is the vegetable garden. I’ve made a start; set up three raised garden beds and started a variety of seeds. So far, I’ve got a good mix: two varieties of tomato, including a tropical variety; banana capsicums, chilis and jalapenos; burgundy okra; Malabar spinach; and some eggplant varieties. I’ve managed to sprout some Mexican sunflowers too—tithonia rotundifolia—which I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. I don’t really see them much in Australia, so I am eager to trial them in my garden. I’m sure the honeyeaters will love the endless, sunset-coloured flowers. I’ve also heard they make good natural hedges/screens.
Tell me, how is your balcony garden going? I am eager to come visit again soon, but I am unsure when I will find the time. Hopefully soon.
The song for today is:
GO — Wafia
I can’t find a YouTube link (sorry!), but it is easily available on Spotify. Check it out.
Love,
The Gardener