growing something where once were weeds

by Nilaya Love
(sunshine coast hinterland, Australia)

(put through a glass door, kicked down stairs, tripped up whilst running....injuries to cervical spine and lumbar..pinch nerves...compromising my mobility, strength/vulnerability, my ability to make my living.....)

I commenced by simply getting myself down onto the ground and focused upon clearing an area of 30 square centimetres...pulling out weeds.( SOMETIMES IT WASN'T EVEN 30CMS...JUST ENOUGH SPACE TO PUT IN SEEDS OR A CUTTING AND NOT HAVE THE GRASS STRANGLE IT)
maybe a day or maybe many more later...I'd keep my eyes alert if I had to be out - on many levels -but also looking for a little cutting off any plant I admired.
then for many weeks carrying a little water every couple of days.
feeling encouraged and delighted when....one day I would come out to see something green breaking the surface...shooting out from the seemingly dead looking...renewal...growth was happening.

Joy would swoop in when a little cutting came to bloom.

six months down the road...the back pain still pulls me up ...sometimes for more than a few days...cutting toe nails or wearing some clothes that require my arms to go over my head...may not happen for weeks.. months....
but
there are so many things blooming in my garden
and folk
old and young
stop to comment on how lovely it is to look at my garden.

that is the bonus.

I didn't do it for what others may think.
I did it because I needed to do something when I felt too sore and too befuddled by lack of sleep...and/or far too much less than how I used to be.

withholding expectation,
but moving just a little most days
because if I didn't move I was going to lose more than I could bare.....

my garden is my sanctuary
and even provides some sweet fresh produce to share...

even when I have to move on again....I'll pot up much and pass beautiful blooms onto loved ones and friendly strangers

Comment from Moderator:
Dear Nilaya, what a beautiful idea! And I am sure that in replace beauty in the form of flowers and plants in a place of grey, it is helping your journey of healing too. Given your physical difficulties, what you have achieved is already staggering. For survivors with lesser physical problems, other ideas could include making art works for their house or garden, redesigning rooms which once were scenes of misery, into calming and inviting places of rest.
I would love to see the finished product of your garden - any chance you could send through a photo? Thanks again for your kind words of hope :)