“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or weeds.” – Osho

A year ago, I was lucky to get a plot in our community garden. It was a leap, and I had both success and failure.

I used to always say I had a “black thumb,” or whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. I was unlucky at keeping plants alive.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine gave my children a milkweed plant with a caterpillar on it. I was nervous that my “black thumb” ways would not only kill the plant but also the tiny caterpillar eating the leaves of the plant. It became my quest to keep the plant alive. It wasn’t hard: a little water, a little pruning, a little time and attention.

I realized how keeping the plant alive was bringing me and my family a lot of joy. We had butterflies visiting our backyard. We had caterpillars munching on the milkweed. We had green and gold speckled chrysalis throughout the backyard. The more attention and energy I spent on my milkweed, the happier it was, and my love for plants began to grow. I started adding other plants to my backyard.

A year ago, I asked for a plot in our community garden. We were fortunate to get assistance from Amber Harmon, a garden specialist, and another Nonahood News writer. She helped guide me in what to plant for the season and how to maintain a productive garden.

My fall garden last year was amazing. I visited nearly every day. I pulled weeds; I harvested when crops were ready. I researched if something seemed off or if I noticed any problems. It was a lot of work, more than my one milkweed plant. I had broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, and kale. My garden was a success but maintaining it was work.

Over winter break, I took a break. I gave myself a vacation from my garden. By January, I could tell the lack of attention and the cool weather was taking a toll. I tried to salvage as much as I could for the upcoming spring and summer season, but only left the kale. I just couldn’t pull it out.

A new spring/summer season of planting was coming up, and I had another chance. I cleared some of my garden and planted some plants but took less effort organizing and figuring out what to plant. I found seeds I had leftover and spread them around the front. I planted a new tomato plant. I added eggplant to the back. I tossed it together, and as the spring season continued, the garden was a lot of work. The weather wasn’t as nice, and my desire to pay attention to it was dwindling. To make matters worse, we left on vacation, and I altogether stopped visiting my garden. By the end of summer, my once beautiful and flourishing garden was nothing but weeds and overgrowth. My time and energy were spent with my family, but my garden was a failure.

“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or weeds.”

How do you spend your time? What do you think about? How do you think about yourself? How do you think about those around you?

My garden story, although true, is an analogy. When I spent my time, energy and focus on my garden, it did well. Sometimes, things out of my control created damage, like the weather changing. And when I ignored my garden, weeds grew and took over.

How do you feel when you move your body, rest your mind, spend time with loved ones, and spend time on yourself?

What areas of your life feel depleted? Where have you allowed the weeds to take over?

Quieting the mind and bringing awareness to these areas of our life is like shining a light on the weeds and pulling them out. It’s not to say that the weeds won’t return, or that a new weed won’t appear in its place. But, quieting the mind gives us the space to plant something new.

As far as my real garden, I spent the morning pulling all the weeds and creating space for future kale. A new season, a new start. It was a cloudy morning as I pulled the weeds, and as I finished pulling the last few, the sun came out.

Natalia Foote is the owner of threeR, a company bringing mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices to the workplace. Her mission in life is spreading love and light in the world. When not spending time with her family, you can find Natalia taking and teaching yoga all around Lake Nona.