Nourish Yourself this Growing Year

I’ve written around five different versions of this post over the past two weeks, only to toss them all aside in favor for just sitting down here in my studio, with a good cup of tea, some quality tunes, lavender wafting through the air, and my pal Cobbs sleeping by my side…the setting is perfect for what my focus for 2022 will be…NOURISH.

The world has been through a very long past two years and the huge life struggles of so many people are ones that I have shared, though not during the pandemic. Rather, I am on the other side (fingers crossed!) of what was a 15-year-straight period of great loss and grief, or what I now call, my “whack-a-mole period of crap”. Not having much chance to recover from one loss, before another hit, created a level of compound grief that still puts on a surprise party every once in a while.

By sharing this, I’m trying to say that this pandemic has caused a great amount of grief for many folks and if there is anything I can share at all that may help, even just a smidge, I have to try.

For so many of us, the hardest part about dealing with grief is that there’s really no time to deal with grief. The tide of life continues to pull you into the “have-to” of the day and you easily lose yourself in a vicious cycle of wake, get everyone (humans and animals) on their way for the morning, go to work, come home, wrangle the humans and animals, figure out a dinner plan, chauffeur a kid somewhere, pay bills, clean things, remember to breathe for a second, go to bed, wake up and start the routine once again. And by continuing to live in this cycle, you compartmentalize your grief, because there’s no time to deal with it that day. Grief unfortunately does not like to be boxed up and it will free itself, often when you least expect it.

In essence, all of this can snowball and lead to great stress, which can then lead to health issues, which can then lead into really expensive medical bills, which can then lead into more stress, and well…it’s just not a good way to be. Stress management has never been a forte of mine, and I’ve been an over thinker my whole life. Let’s just say, when my stress led to a full body seizure and brain MRI, that wasn’t enough of a wake up call to take better care of myself because too many other things needed my attention.

On the dawn of my 40th birthday, I closed the chapter on one of my cruelest losses and thought that come my new decade, things would finally be better. A month later at my first mammogram appointment, it wasn’t. That set forth a six year period of constant MRIs, biopsies and mammograms. In between those two medical issues, I also learned that the chronic back pain I was dealing with was a progressive disorder as a result of both a congenital defect of a missing bone on my spine, along with a fracture that goes across my lower vertebrae. 

Took long enough, but I finally got the memo to start being kinder to myself and to stop trying so exhaustingly hard at everything. Something magical happened during that period and I learned (and am continuing to learn) to let go of the past and not overthink the future, and to focus as much of my attention as I can on the present moment. The here and now. Sounds so simple, but how often do we practice enjoying a single focus in our multi-tasking, non-stop world? This act of celebrating what is immediately before you is basically mindfulness and just practicing five minutes of your day can help so much.

For me, mindfulness all starts with connecting more with Nature. Whether it’s a houseplant in an apartment, or a bountiful garden, or a local park, putting forth a mindful approach to how you interact with the natural world around you will truly provide much needed moments of joy, and over time, will provide a sense of healing.

I’ll be focusing more of my time over here on my website…dusting off its cobwebs, to share some of my favorite ways to nourish your soul and body with herbs, garden and everything Nature. Everything I’ll share will be quick to make and easy to use, because that’s my reality of life as well. And while some will only take five minutes, they easily may be the best five minutes of self care you have that day.

As we head into the new growing season, I will be celebrating all things garden and taking you along for each step of the seed sowing experience. But, you will not need a garden to be able to celebrate these nourishing tips. What you will need is to stop by your local market and pick up a few pots of your favorite herbs and get them on a sunny windowsill and you’ll be good to grow.

Which brings me to what I’ll be shouting most from the growing rooftops, and which shall not come as too much of a surprise to those who know me, but may 2022 be your year of growing herbs…lots and lots of herbs! On a sill or a stoop, in a patch or an acre, everything you will need to create your own wellness spa of happiness is in a pot of herbs.

Let us always be kind to others, but just as importantly, please be kind to yourself. Take a few stolen moments of your day to nourish your mind, soul and body with a little mindfulness courtesy of Nature and gardens everywhere.

Here’s to a nourishing new year!