Soul Gardening Part 3 – Sunshine and showers
Dear Friend
Today is a wild, wet summer’s day. From my window I can see the rain blowing down the road like smoke and trees bending in the wind. Summer in the UK!
Other days have been full of sunshine and record temperatures and somehow, for me, that contrast heightens, rather than diminishes the season. Our expectation is that summer should be a time of long lazy days in unbroken sunshine but burning heat with no shade can become overwhelming and I, for one, welcome the respite of the occasional cooler day. Those are days to regroup, to reflect and plan, to weed those parts of the garden that have been neglected as I sit in the sun enjoying the beauty.
I have written in earlier posts about the concept of Soul Gardening, how each season of our own soul needs care and attention if, in turn, we are to nurture the souls of future generations to flourish.
In March I wrote about the garden in winter, often a time for the all-important preparation of the soil. When we feel winter in our soul, it can be a sign that we need to take time to look back over our own soul’s journey through life and dig out those weeds that we have inherited from our history that might still choke us. A time to refresh and nourish the depth of our being.
Without understanding, cleaning and nurturing our own souls, anything we plant may not be able to take root and grow.
Then there is Spring, a time for planting seeds, for providing structure and shelter so that tender seedlings can take root and begin to grow. Like young shoots in a garden, this is a vulnerable time for souls too, when they can so easily be diminished or crushed. A time for protection and a safe place to stretch out and find the sunshine. A time to shelter from the storms of life that could uproot us.
And now it is summer, a busy time for gardeners as well as a time to sit back and enjoy the beauty. A time to tidy and weed, to prune, mow and tie up plants that have outgrown their space (or leave them to flower in riotous abundance!).
Last week I watched a group of children playing on the beach, turning cartwheels, running in and out of the surf, relishing the simple pleasure of being alive. It felt so far from the shadow of the article I had read the same day of a ‘forgotten generation of children’ who are suffering in pain as their need for mental health support ‘hits delays of up to three years’ (Guardian 15.7.24). We must not forget the shadows as we welcome the sun.
As you know, my friend, my great passion is the care of souls in pain, particularly the need to care for, listen to and nurture children’s souls. The same report reminded me that ‘75% of mental health problems occur before the age of 24’. My experiences as a child psychotherapist, both in the UK and overseas, have led me to believe that, by nurturing a child’s inner soul, much pain and isolation can be, if not healed, at least soothed.
I believe that we can only do this if, in turn, we nurture and live from our own authentic souls.
Soon it will be Autumn. A time for harvesting the fruits of our labours and for letting seeds fall to take root and flower in the years ahead.
I may never see where my own seeds land or witness their flowering. All I can do is try to generate conditions where they may flourish, and trust for the rest.
I believe strongly that it is only if we care for, listen to and gently cultivate the tender souls of children that we will begin to build a world of unity, instead of the divisions we too often see today, of beauty rather than the pain of a mental health crisis, a world where each soul is cherished and accepted as the wonderful and unique being they were born to be. I also believe that unless we connect to and live from our own precious souls, however damaged and flawed they may be, we cannot in turn nurture those who follow us. We have a responsibility, as well as the joy it can bring us, to take time to uncover and own our own souls in order to be able to create a ‘soul-full’ next generation.
It is only by living fully in each season of our own souls, that we can sow seeds for future generations to harvest.
Enjoy this season of your soul, my Friend.
Miranda