Some
time ago, Sofan and I were visiting some friends in the country. We were
staying a a beautiful little guest cabin, surrounded by fruit trees, flowers
and even a few goats. Painted above the doorway in brightly coloured,
flowing letters were the words :-

Your
mind is a garden,
Your thoughts are the seeds,
You can grow flowers or
You can grow weeds.

Little
did we know it at the time, but this little poem was to have a profound
affect both on our thought patterns as well as our Artworks.

It
started almost as a kind of game. We decided to make a real effort to
watch our thoughts and see exactly what it was that we were planting in
our own "Mind Gardens". It was difficult at first, but gradually,
we began to pay more and more attention to what thoughts were repeatedly
flashing across our minds.

How disturbing it was to discover that many of these "seeds"
were extremely negative thoughts destined to grow patches of thorny thistles
and stinging nettles in our daily lives !

We
gradually came to see how so many of the problems and difficulties we
were encountering in our lives had their beginnings in the seeds of doubt,
fear and anxiety that we were continually planting in our minds.

It
does take effort, but like anything else it gets easier with practice,
and the amazing thing is, as we became more and more aware of these negative
thoughts we are able to say:-

"No!
I will NOT plant this weed in the Garden of my Mind "

I
will consciously choose to plant something better. The results are truly
spectacular.

When
you start to consciously cultivate your own mind
garden, you will truly be amazed at the changes which begin to
happen in your life. Obstacles disappear, barriers fall away, and things
that you once thought were either impossible or very far away will suddenly
come into view.

In the christian bible it is written "As ye sow, so shall
ye reap." This principle has been understood by wise sages
and prophets for many thousands of years. Whatever thought we continually
plant into our minds will grow into what we will later experience in our
lives.

Any
garden is and ongoing process. It's not enough to just plant a single
seed of happiness and then forget about it. Your frail little seedling
would soon be choked by weeds. It is necessary to continuously pull out
and throw away those weeds of fear, doubt and anxiety as soon as they
appear.

Love, happiness and tranquility are all contagious.

People
who are continuously planting these seeds in their own minds are also
planting them in other people's.

Remember,
                         
Your mind
is a Garden
                    
Your Thoughts are the seeds,
                       
You can grow flowers or
                          
You can grow weeds.

So
ask youself, what are you going to grow in the glorious garden of your
mind ?

May your life be filled
with love, happiness and inspiration

Rochman Reese
and Sofan Chan
A
weekly dose of Love, Happiness and Inspiration
https://www.theartofhappiness.net/
*********************************************************

The picture above is a picture of a simple “lettuce box” that was
built and designed to assist a pregnant women in her gardening efforts.
Something simple like that could easily be used to also grow some fresh
greens for an older or disabled person.
at: www.groovygreen.com/groove/?cat=146&paged=2

Treehugger featured a story recently about gardeners in Sweden using construction debris bags as
planters.  It’s an interesting way to create a garden where previously
there was none.  Not to mention allowing the gardener to grow on a
parking lot without having to rip up the parking surface first.
In fact, this article talks about using wading pools as the container, and includes a link to
other container gardening information.  Apparently there are plenty of
different ways to create a garden where ever you might want one.
Picture courtesy of the Treehugger article.

California Heartland, a California Public Television program, has a
feature episode on the Dervaes family from the Path to Freedom group. Click here to go to their website and watch the video.
The Dervaes family are interesting as they raise a large amount of
food on their small Pasadena lot. They show that it’s possible to be
mostly food sufficient even in the city, you just have to take a
different path to get there.
We’ve featured them quite a bit here at Groovy Green. You can search
for Path to Freedom in our search box to see all the stories. I’ve linked here to an interview we did with them.
Image courtesy of the California Heartland website.