Dear Friends,
This time of year is always a bit bittersweet for me. I am thoroughly enjoying the beauty of my gardens, at the same time, I know that their essence is fading into the autumn and winter months. I do have to admit by the time winter rolls around I am content with not having to water anymore but I miss the color and vibrancy of these flower beings very much. I spend many hours in the spring and summer cultivating and bringing the gardens to life, along with mother nature of course. I am not a perfect gardener, I do not know what acid/alkaline balance the soil needs for each plant. I can’t remember the names of some of the plants. I consider myself an intuitive gardener. I feel where to put each plant and listen to where it wants to go. I don’t always get it right but somehow, by mid summer, it all comes together in an array of beauty and color. By the time fall rolls around, I have developed an intimate relationship with my flower family and grieve when they go back to the earth.
Each year I contemplate on this issue of impermanence. I know that everything is impermanent from a physical perspective. Everything changes forms and recycles to different forms. We leave this earth and go back to spirit and then perhaps we may choose to re-emerge on this physical plane or we may choose to move on to other grand adventures. Perhaps it is because my astrological sign is in Taurus that I feel such an attachment to the physical realm. We like our feet firmly planted on terra firma. Loss of anything physical that we love is rarely easy.
Years ago a good friend of mine passed away. She always had lovely gardens. It was so sad to me when she passed both for the loss of her physical being and to see that all of the plants died without her attention. The plants would have gone back to the earth eventually but it was premature in this case both for my friend and the plants. I know if and when I pass from this earth, those who have enjoyed my gardens will also feel the loss of this creation every summer by my hand.
As I contemplate on this issue of impermanence, whether it be a garden, a physical being, or some other form of creation I realize that nothing can really ever be taken away from us. Those who have seen my gardens including myself have pictures in our minds and a feeling that was formed by looking at them and being in their presence. Much like the feeling we get from being in the presence of anything that we love be it an animal, a plant, a child, a parent, a dear friend. If love and joy are present we feel uplifted and lighter.
I think this is one of the greatest lessons in this life. That is, to enjoy every single thing that we love and cherish and yet, at the same time, realize the impermanence of it in our lives either because we or the object of our attention changes form. The more we can “feel” the energy of what it is that we love or have created, we can let go of the physical form and know that we can get that feeling back at any time. The gardens really haven’t disappeared as long as I can conjure up the memory and feeling of them. A child or parent that has passed has only changed forms and have become their pure energetic and spiritual essence. If you have a relationship with their energy and spirit then you don’t really lose them.
I have a strong ability to feel the energy in other people and beings. But I sure miss the physical presence of those that I love that have left this earth. However, I am fortunate to know they are still around and I will meet them again in another time and space, just like the plants that resurrect in the Spring. They will look different but the essence will be the same.
Yes, I will grieve a little when the color has left my garden. But I vow to remember the joy the plants brought to me and those who visited my yard. I will keep alive the color and vibrancy in my meditations so that even when the gray dullness of winter comes upon us, I will have a rich inner life of summertime. I wish for all of you to have this kind of beauty in your life all fall and winter. If you have lost loved ones, remember their essence is alive in your memories and all around you. When the time is right, you will be with them again. Perhaps you or they will look different, but if you remember their energy, their essence, you will sigh a sigh of relief when you meet again. Your soul will say, “Ah, this energy I know, this being I know. My family, my beloved, we meet again!”
Blessings to all of you beautiful beings of color and light. May your magnificence shine on all those you meet so that they will remember you when they meet you again in a different time and space and form.
Love to all,
Rosemary