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The Joys of Gardening
There is a Chinese saying that goes: "If you want to be happy for an hour, have a meal. If you want to be happy for a year, take a spouse. If you want to be happy for life, plant a garden."
I'm not going to argue the first two points, but there is much truth to the third.
There is much joy and contentment that comes from working with the soil. You plant a tomato, you get a tomato.
My son Ben is two years old and one of his favorite things is playing in the sandbox. Or the dirt. Or mud. Or just stopping to pick up rocks and twigs when we go for a walk. There is something deep in our being that yearns for this connection with the Earth.
The Earth is our mother. The source of all life. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We come from and return to the Earth. And in between it's good to cultivate our connection with the Earth. It's only in the past 6,000 years or so of civilization that human beings have gone from being hunters and gatherers to figuring out how to plant and reap and became farmers. It was this transition that allowed our early ancestors to give up being nomads and plant some roots, literally and figuratively.
As early agrarian societies evolved they were able to generate a surplus which allowed them to have the time to pursue other activities, such as art and culture. Well, actually it was usually just the folks at the top of the society that had leisure time—but over time that gradually began to trickle down to the rest of us.
It wasn't so long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that the majority of the world's people lived in rural farming areas as opposed to cities.
The industrial revolution forever started a process of removing us from our connection with the Earth.
Maybe we have a yard we tend, a lawn we mow or plants we keep in our homes that help us keep in touch with the earth. In this way, we are in a small way still united with the primal elements, earth, water and sunshine.
While I doubt many of us are eager to give up the comforts of city living and go back to farming as a way of life, there is within us all a need and desire to be connected with the Earth that sustains us.
In Chinese medicine there are five elements that we consider: Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire. Each element relates to a time of year as well as various aspects of our health.
It is the Earth element that represents the late summer, what we call Indian Summer. It is the time of fullness and ripeness. The time to bask in the warmth and enjoy the bounty and splendor of nature.
Here in San Francisco, it is September that brings the summertime we've been waiting for through the chilly "winter" of July and August.
The Earth element also relates to digestion and assimilation. It has to do with the food we eat and the ideas and thoughts we process. It is about the sweetness of life.
So have a good meal, kiss your partner, then get out and work on your garden.
In all these ways, enjoy the sweetness that the Earth represents.
© 2004 Larry Forsberg. All rights reserved.
Articles posted on this Web site are for personal use only and remain the property of Larry Forsberg, L.Ac.
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