The Garden as Therapy

I've always known it was true. Gardening is therapeutic. It's more than the fresh air, the smell of rich soil and rare February sunshine; It's soothing, creating order out of that which has its own mind be it weeds or slugs, it's, why it's Control. Are you laughing? That's OK. The therapeutic effect of having control over 2, 20 or 200 square feet of earth at a go, if only for the moments you're working on it, rocks my world. The Garden is my domain. I have no control over anything else. The minute I get the laundry done, someone throws a sock in the basket crumpling my new found orderliness, I sweep the garage and the wind thwarts me before the door can close, the dishwasher is empty for a nanosecond, the damned dust settles back down 3 seconds after I wipe it away, the stock market sends me running to advisers hoping for something more than 'out of control' and family members get sick. I am not delusional. I know I am in no more control of the weeds than the orbit of the moon, but at least I have control over my understanding of the garden. I know what to expect of it. It is reliable and in that I find therapy for there is  little in this life that we truly have control over. Our outlook and expectations are something we can always work on. Peace in the garden.

Caitlin