In an increasingly fast-paced world where we are constantly surrounded by an uncountable number of distractions, it would help our minds to find peace and calm. But how?
Our phones light up, ding, and send us messages constantly. Cable news channels quickly scroll one scoop after another while talking heads yell more than report. Personal and work emails demand immediate attention, or else they’ll clog up our mailboxes. And our competitive ways plague adults and children alike.
But these issues are mundane when compared to other matters. For instance, today’s children practice active shooter drills. And we’re living on a planet that’s becoming less hospitable with every passing year.
Listen to a podcast where Michael and Lee discuss a related question: ‘Are we too busy?’ We also discuss a bonus question: ‘What are our responsibilities to others?’
We live in a high-stress world, and thus, many of us are highly-stressed people. While anyone, at any age, may excusably be on edge, others experience diagnosable anxiety. Nearly one-fifth of the population suffers from this mood disorder each year, and roughly a third will experience it in their lifetime.
It would do us a world of good to experience peace. So, what do you do to escape it all?
Do you meditate or practice yoga? Do you find peace in a place of worship? Perhaps a nature hike calms you down. Or listening to music relaxes your mind and body. Possibly, like me, you head out to your garden to weed or just take in your surroundings.
How do you find peace when you need it?
Related questions: What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Peace or discomfort? How do you perform self-care? Is our attention fractured?
I have a chronic Anxiety disorder. Luckily, there are many tactics an Anxiety-ridden person can use to abbreviate their period of distress and find peace.
The most common thing I do during the summer is head out to my garden and become fully aware of how my five senses ground me in the present, making the past and future disappear. The following are some of the primary sensory experiences I rely on to bring my brain to a better place: What is happening in my garden right now?
Sight
I have at least three sight-based focuses:
First, I like to observe the topography of my garden. What are the tallest plants? The smallest? How does it look from different vantage points when I walk around my garden? If my kale plants are 2 – 3 feet high; if my tomato plants reach 5 – 6 feet; if my amaranth is 6 feet tall with long strings of little crimson, gold, or green flowers; if my sunflowers tower 10-plus feet in the air; does my backyard look like a different place depending on the various locations from which I can view it?
Second, what mixture of colors do I find in my garden? Lettuce is (most often) green, along with many other veggie plants. Some beetroot has purplish-red leaves. Red orach is really purple. Tomatoes can be red, yellow, purple, striped, or have multi-color swirling designs.
And third, will I find several beans ready to pick if I move the green bean leaves? Or if I grow purple-podded string beans, some growing 4 -6 inches for prime picking, other beans growing as long as a yard to do the same, what will they look like against a wall of green foliage?
Smell:
After a rainstorm, have you ever taken in a deep breath of healthy, fertile soil? It’s wonderful! Similarly, have you ever smelled a tomato leaf after a rainstorm or while it still has morning dew on it? It offers up an incredible scent. In fact, it’s fun to weed — in the rain — near a wall of tomato plants just to be in the presence of this smell for an extended period.
Touch:
Many vegetable plants are prickly to ward off pests, as well as Michael Dahl. In fact, bean leaves can be Velcro-like. Sometimes I plunge my head into a high wall of bean plants, leaving with two or three half-dead stems with multiple leaves on the back of my shirt.
Far from prickly, there’s the silky feel of some leaf lettuces. It amazes me that some of these leaves are delicate to the touch but sturdy enough to make it through a hard frost.
Hearing:
I like to go out in my garden under the bright morning sun. The place is full of many kinds of vociferous insects. I especially love to hear the buzzing of bees as they do the impressive work of pollinating what will eventually become food for my belly.
I also have a great time going out into my garden during a light rainfall or even an intense rainstorm. It’s fun to listen to raindrops hitting the leaves. Variations of sound come from leaves of different sizes and different rain intensities. Close your eyes; you can almost imagine being in a jungle downpour.
And finally, taste:
Imagination can have you dreaming about the yummy flavors of the incredible variety of heirloom vegetables. For instance, the taste of one type of tomato may be nothing like that of another size, shape, or color. Of course, you don’t need an imagination to pick a handful of snap peas and eat them before you even reach the kitchen!
Has my indulgence in my garden given you an idea of how working in your plot might help you? Or perhaps you could use a different situation to immerse yourself in your senses to put your mind in the now and find peace? I hope so.