Love is at the heart of the Dragonfly Garden.
In
2002, we responded to an inner "call" to create a garden in our meadow. Taking that step
was an act of trust, and one that has taken us on a journey
of ever deepening levels of caring and connecting to
the natural world and to ourselves.
When we started the garden, Anthony and I agreed that we would stay
open, pay attention, and let the garden show us what it wanted to become.
One day, it occurred to me that what we were doing was "honoring the
soul of a garden". Although I had grown many gardens in the past, I had
never felt this type of feeling about a garden before. With this new
awareness, we established a relationship with the garden that centered
us in caring for it as a "living being".
Many of our choices from then on, came from our focus
to care for the garden in this way. We nurtured and loved the garden
as a whole, as well as all of the things we started to grow there. Before
long, we could see that our actions were very similar to caring for a
precious child. It all started to make sense.
Both children and plants
respond to the universal laws that govern growth and thriving. Regular
watering, feeding, recognition, loving—all make
a difference! I had read that Luther Burbank, in
his plant propagation in the 1920s, loved a cactus so much that it
stopped growing its thorns! No
wonder he felt that there was much that humans needed to learn about
caring for "the human plant".
So, we praised the plants for their amazing ability to grow from
such tiny seeds, we paid attention to their needs through observation
and listening, we admired them, and felt reverence for their beauty
and sacred geometry. We eventually became aware that the more we opened
up and loved the garden, the more the plants could express the full potential
of what they were designed to be.
This "conscious cooperation" was
like unkinking a garden hose. A greater level of energy and
dynamics started to abound in the garden community. Plants were bigger,
more vibrant and colorful than most people had seen before. An unusual
harmony was apparent throughout. We were asked what we were doing,
what special fertilizers were we using, what were our secrets to make
this happen. Many people started coming to the garden and were
inspired to love their gardens more fully.
People
seemed to be especially influenced by the garden's energy if they were
to eat something from it. A walk through with light grazing would noticeably
uplift a person's energy. The power in the food itself became another
dimension of the garden experience. The abundance of food was like a
fountain of delight from which we harvested with respect and tender loving
care. We thanked and blessed the plants for sharing their lives with
us. We felt the joy and gratitude in being able to experience the real
qualities —the fresh and invigorating flavors—and the
Life Force that are the true essence of what each plant offers to us.
Participating in the synergy of Love and its activation in the garden
dynamics, has given us the opportunity to grow and expand in our
awareness. We have come to realize that we aren't so separate from
the garden in reality. Sometimes, the perceived boundaries between the
garden landscape and "Self" melt away into a wonderful sea of creating,
flowing life energy. The great sense of peace and oneness and the feeling
that "All is Well in the World" is the energy of Love
that flows in this garden.
"Love is a River, Drink from it." — Rumi
|