While Considering A Little Weed

As a budding gardener I find myself taken back to the childhood sandpit that was my grandmother’s garden. I did not particularly enjoy the garden work but I took pleasure in helping my grandmother out and spending time with her. It also meant not having to do housework. My mother on the other hand tells me she did not like me out in the garden as a child because all I ever did was to eat the soil.

Fast forward to a couple of decades later and I now find that I am enjoying playing around in the soil again, this time with no adult to scold me about getting dirty or eating soil. I actually enjoy the feel of the soil in my hands. I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I see something beautiful emerge out of a space that initially looked bare and barren. There is something fulfilling about watching something as small and as seemingly insignificant as a seed turn into a strong, beautiful and at times edible plant. Gardening has reminded me of the cycle of life; how we all come from the earth, depend on the earth and return to the earth when we die. It has reminded me of how interlinked we as humans are with the most basic of elements; namely air, sunshine, water and earth. Life, at its most beautiful, is most simple but we tend to be so caught up on everything man-made that we forget the basics.

Unfortunately in my forays into gardening I have also discovered the never ending annoying irritation that is weeds. Weeds are those invasive, uninvited, unwanted, unwelcome, parasitical plants that tend to take over the garden. The more fertile the garden the more weeds one deals with. These have become the bane of my gardening experience, they really suck the joy out of it. Unfortunately I can’t wish them away and no matter how angry I get they always return. So I have come to a place where I’ve had to accept that I have to coexist with these weeds, they are not going anywhere. I have even learnt a few life lessons from them, which I’d like to share with you. So here we go, here are five lessons I have learnt when considering the weeds in my garden.

The first lesson I have learnt is that weeds are not affected by the label they carry. They show up with pride and will grow as tall as possible because they do not own other people’s definitions of them. Oh how pleasant life would be if we did not allow ourselves to be affected by other people’s labels / definitions / impressions of us.

Secondly, weeds do not feel sorry for themselves. Even if they got to know that they are unwelcome I doubt that would stop them from showing up the following day/ week/month. Yes life must be tough for the weed but they are too busy surviving to think about how unwanted they really are. We all have our unpleasant backgrounds and circumstances but at times we spend too much time focusing on them and nursing them, instead of dealing with them and then moving on.

Thirdly, weeds do not miss any opportunity. They take advantage of any available gap, no matter how small, and make the most of it. No chance is too big or too small for them. They see every gap as an opportunity to gain access to sunlight and water. Weeds ensure that they do no starve, even if it means squeezing through tiny cracks in concrete floors. I shudder when I think of how many opportunities I have let pass me, it’s a real shame.

Fourthly, weeds focus on survival not on popularity. They are not always in clusters and their strength is not always in numbers. It is not rare to find a lone single weed growing in some obscure space all by itself. They do not wait for crowds. I realise now that my success will come when I get rid of the need for approval and attention by others. It will come when I focus on my purpose and I am prepared to go it alone.

Lastly, weeds are tenacious and stubborn and tireless. They never give up, they keep coming back … ALL the time. It doesn’t matter how many times I remove them, it doesn’t matter what poison or what organic concoction I use … they keep coming back. In this battle I am the one loosing, not them. They seem to be outsmarting me. If only I applied even half the persistence in some of the things I am pursuing, I would have great success.

So instead of wasting precious emotional energy hating weeds I guess I might as well take the lessons from them and make my life better. Hopefully you will too!