Gardening is a Great Diversion!

My parents were keen gardeners, and they would set me to work with "growing things" already when I was as young as 4-5 years old.

Unlike many adult things — which I usually found boring — this was interesting because I got to learn "where food comes from. "

I have my own little square of land within their much greater kitchen garden, where I got to choose what I wanted to grow and then I was responsible for taking care of it.

So I grew colorful flowers because I wanted to see butterflies, and I grew carrots because it fascinated me that some things grew below ground, and I grew green peas because I really liked eating them. I also grew giant sunflowers because it fascinated me that you could put a tiny seed in the ground and a few months later there would be flowers that were twice as tall as I was!

All these years later, I still love gardening and growing fresh food and our vegetable garden is where I often go when the demands of the world start to feel a little too overwhelming.

For me, there's something very comforting about having my hands in the dirt, even if it is just to pull out weeds and make the ground ready to grow something. We talk about "getting grounded" as a way to calm our anxieties and slow our racing thoughts and it is a very tangible thing. At least for me.

I can't help but think that a major part of the reason why I always have felt better during the summers has to do with the fact that I get to garden on a regular basis. I don't think it really has anything to do with seasonal affective disorder or the shortness of light in winter.

These days, life is pretty stressful. Some of it is due to personal financial struggles, and some of it is simply worrying about the state of the world.

There are quite a few times when I know I "should be working" that I just push back my chair and leave, going out into the garden where there's always something that needs tending to and tinkering with. Once I have been out there working — and largely emptying my mind — for a couple of hours, I feel much more capable of dealing with the many things that are on my plate.

I don't think the so-called "grind culture" that so many people in our world are addicted to is healthy for human beings. Other than the fact that it causes extensive stress in most of us, I think we lose touch with the ability to simply empty our minds for a while and stop worrying about everything.

They're definitely is much more to life than just working, and yet we have created a world that increasingly centers around work simply because we have created a world that we can't afford unless we're working all the time.

I just think about the housing situation we face, and how in the 1960s the average family house cost about 2.5 times the median income, while today the average family house costs roughly seven times the median income. The "talking heads" (experts) say that we are better off, but at what price is that "better off" coming to us? And is losing your mind because you have to work all the time really a representation of better off?

Frankly, I'd rather live in a smaller and more modest house, and drive an old car, while it gives me time to work in my garden and retain my sanity than be part of the IN-sanity that is modern grind culture!

Thanks for stopping by for a moment, and have a wonderful remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Do you enjoy gardening? Do you find gardening to be a good way to de-stress? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2026.05.21 13:04 PDT
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