I don't think I have ever sown as many seeds as I have over the last month or so. Since we all listened to the government explain the new restrictions surrounding our freedom of movement, what we all have to do as a community and country as a whole to protect ourselves and each other, we all find ourselves adapting and responding in our own ways to the current situation. It's been a scary, worrying and uncertain time for us all and in many different ways.
During our last few Green Minds Ecotherapy sessions our group started to sow many different seeds, we discovered how differently each seed looked and felt, some tiny, barely there at all nestled between the lines in our palms. Some were big and prickly and didn't need to be buried beneath the soil that deeply at all. So many seeds great and small, as diverse as we humans are, all responding differently to the conditions that we find ourselves in. I watch each day as the seedlings begin to sprout and slowly unfurl themselves, some with more ease than others, reaching higher towards the sky. I am in awe of each one as it changes structure and shape, develops another leaf, becomes a plant. Inside each seed there is life complete, everything it needs to germinate and flower and fruit encoded within....Somehow the seed knows exactly what it needs to do. As a gardener I am learning to develop deeper levels of patience, and I have so much enjoyed the conversations with our group members earlier on the year, whilst our hands were in the soil, questioning how things grow and what it means to nurture something. My personal response to the Covid-19 outbreak is to keep on sowing seeds, for me that's where I find a sense of hope and where I can imagine a future beyond. Spring is an incredible time of renewal. I hope we can all take comfort in what is happening around us in the natural world here and now, even within such difficult and challenging times. Perhaps when you are next outside, in the garden, in the park or in a woodland take a closer look around you.....What lies beneath Winter's old decaying leaves?. What new life is germinating and beginning to grow around you?...Are there any new colours beginning to appear on the verges and at the edges of the pathways near you?...In noticing what new life begins to emerge around us we realise that we are part of a much greater web, one that doesn't recognise boundaries and walls. Here we can be reminded that things are always changing, and this time we are in too shall pass. We are always somehow connected to one another, even from afar, all part of the same web....... What seeds of hope are you sowing? How does nature inspire you in times of uncertainty? We'd love to hear your stories too and please feel free to share any comments you may have below. Best wishes, Jess
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