Cultivating Fulfillment (Mindfulness Garden)

Helloooo zen community! Today was a wonderful day! I finished a week-long project of planting a garden in my new backyard! At my previous house, my mama and I had built an incredibly abundant garden full of beautiful flowers and foods! I grew strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, chinese eggplant, baby bell peppers, squash, sweet potatoes, and some herbs for cooking. So when I moved into my current house a few months ago, I was super excited to utilize the space in my backyard to create a vibrant garden + meditation area. 

This backyard is much larger than my last, so I had a lot of fun planning + landscaping it into a lush, inspiring area. The residents before us left trash, pots, and all sorts of random items everywhere, so the first step was clearing all the non-organic matter. We had to hire professional landscapers to help us trim + remove some of the overgrown areas, and they helped open up the area for all our new plants! The whole project has been a ton of work, but everyone worked so hard and had such a great attitude, it was a great opportunity to practice mindfulness skills. 

We don’t have a sprinkler system set up yet, and my garden hose was too short to reach any of the plants, but after I finished planting all the new additions today, I knew I had to water them to help them not get shocked after transplant. I had to fill my watering can up, walk over to each plant, and water each individually, some plants more than once (my watering can only holds enough water for one medium plant). I easily could have gotten frustrated or annoyed ay the tedious labor, but instead, I set my intention to find satisfaction in the moment I was in. I focused on appreciating the fresh air. I found fulfillment in each breath. I walked with gratitude, feeling appreciation for my healthy body. I found fulfillment in each step. With each trip back to the hose to fill my watering can, I found fulfillment from living deeply in the present moment. 

No matter what action we’re doing, if we connect to what’s around us and bring our awareness to the present moment, happiness will arise naturally. We don’t need to achieve all our goals or seek a certain level of success to be happy. We can live a very fulfilled life, simply by touching the many wonders of life around us in the present moment.