Changing Our Perspective on Productivity
Garden therapy reminds us that a lack of productivity can be interpreted as preparing for our second harvest.
While cleaning out my “three sisters garden” I thought about my once super productive garden. I had picked the last ears of corn, and the only trace of the beans, watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe that were once a source of pride were the vines that were left behind ready for the compost. Once cleared out, all that was left was a patch of dirt. Yet I was excited because I knew that I was resting the soil in preparation for the winter garden that was going to be planted in a few weeks.
We can look at the patch of nothing, in our lives or our garden, and think one of two things: 1) this is a lack of production or 2) I am getting ready for my second harvest.
I chose the latter.
We can choose to focus on the second harvest when we look at our lives. We are not always going to be super productive. In those moments when we start to worry about the appearance of a lack of productivity in our lives, we can remind ourselves that even the Earth takes a break from producing. She rests, and that rest period is not evidence of lack. It is evidence of preparation for the next harvest.
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Photo by Paz Arando on Unsplash