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Being sequestered in our homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic has left many of us searching for new ways to be inspired. My husband and I very much enjoy our home yet, a change of scenery is much more inspirational than our common day to day routines.
On my daily neighborhood walks, I managed to find some newness by merely observing the new clusters of families joyfully playing together. And, still, I craved some fresh new scenes. How to shelter in place (meaning to stay a safe distance from other people) and, at the same time, find something totally different, though?
In our fourth week of being exclusively at home, my husband and I were extended an invitation to visit a friend’s Spring garden. Mike and I could explore, just the two of us, with our phone cameras. What joy awaited us!
Spring is the perfect season to experience the renewal of soul amidst nature’s early display of splendor. This is not just any old garden. It is old, though, and was grown spontaneously rather than planned. It was sporadically planted in a vast array of exotic, mostly flowering plant life. For 30 years is has been tended and deeply nurtured by beautiful souls that genuinely qualify as master gardeners. You might catch a bit of inspiration simply by gazing at the path leading into the back portion of the sprawling exotic plants. It certainly inspired me.
Many meditations have been experienced in this garden both by sitting and also by simply gazing into the soul of a selected plant being. Elementals must surely bask in the wonder that is available via this sacred garden. I am told that a variety of songbirds find their richest fantasies here. Though I couldn’t quite catch them at home, maybe this picture will convey a bit of what must surely be bird ecstasy.
David’s Garden
Full bloom
The beauty of these pure white tree peonies made their own sacred statement as we said our goodbyes. We left feeling nourished down to the core of our souls. My heart was overflowing. My thoughts brought an apt reminder- that this garden, like life itself, is constantly changing. This version will die away only to be birthed again in 2021. In that same moment, I felt reassured that, beyond a pandemic, all will be well– maybe in a different way than what we previously knew as our comfort zone, though. I feel certain that life prevails with or without my cooperation or my active involvement. And I want to cooperate, and I choose to be actively involved in the life that constantly shifts, changes and surprises me (not necessarily always in a pleasant way). Spontaneity may show us a new way. So, spontaneity here I come! Maybe it is prudent for each of us to constantly ask as we move forward, “How can I, in my own way, best support this new phase of life?”
Wanda Gail Campbell
Photo by Carol Zukosky
Wanda has served thirty plus years as a healthcare professional. Currently, she serves as a Minister of Peace ordained by The Beloved Community. In July, 2007 she completed her PhD in Philosophy focused on Intercultural Peacemaking. For her own spiritual nourishment, she enjoys reading both contemporary and ancient spiritual writings.
Images of flowers: Wanda Gail Campbell
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