Tilling the Soul

Feeling the soil run through my fingers uplifts my mood and brings about a sense of serenity. Being connected with the earth, with its abundance and beauty instills a sense of joy. The warm breeze blows through my hair, and I keep pulling weeds out one by one. I imagine that getting rid of each weed is like pulling out a ‘weed of life’.

I have noticed that when I pull out a weed, it sometimes comes back to grow again. Should I have dug deeper to pull out this strongly rooted weed? What are these  ‘weeds of life’ which I refer to? Could it be that they are hatred, anger, self-doubt, guilt which grow and spread to cause pain and turmoil in our lives? These stubborn weeds fail to go away completely. How do I start to remove these weeds which strangle the flowering plants? How do I till the soul to create a bed of love, happiness, gratitude, and peace?  

 The sun is lower in the sky and the cool breeze now caresses my face. I have worked through the day knowing that I have rooted out each stubborn weed completely. It takes motivation, effort, and determination to remove these’ weeds of life’ and be a better version of oneself. I know that if I let the weeds unattended, it will crush the seedlings. I continue to care for my garden, understanding that the core idea is to eliminate the weeds, aerate the soil, fertilize for the new seeds to grow. Acceptance, loving-kindness, compassion and lowering that negative inner chatter brings about a beautiful tilled soul.