Self Reflection

“The garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life's most basic processes.”

Today, I went to the garden alone.  After an emotionally exhausting weekend, I figured this a place I could escape from the chaos that defines my home on campus with 6 other girls.  Still, no large progress has been made on the garden front, but the mental progress that I made from sitting alone and reflecting was huge.  I stared at the soil that seemed to have been turned hours before by someone and thought about the process of gardening paralleled with the process of life.  The simplicity of the bare beds brought comfort to my peace of mind as I closed my eyes and envisioned what they would soon look like weeks from now.  I caught this thought inner twining with my fear of graduation weeks down the road.  When I came to Lehigh, I entered as a timid freshman from Michigan completely unsure what I was in for.  I blended amongst the other fearful freshman and remained apart of the class of 2012 soil until I began to break out and become an individual.  I thought about the flowers we would soon be growing, the vegetables and realized that they too, would have their own identities amongst a common bed and eventually after hopefully months, would die off and begin the process agajn.  This reminded me of graduation and the huge changes that soon await me.  Everything in life is a process.. whether it’s a garden or four years of college and I think a very important thing I took away from the garden today was the concept that change is inevitable.  The plants will change, the atmosphere and the weather they grow up in and the people that come in and out my life will come and go too.  I will change as a person as I continue to find my niche in the world and it is extremely comforting to know that I won’t be alone… the tomatoes, the other vegetables and the plants will be right there with me for the process.. I gained peace of mind today in the garden through the silence that let my thoughts collect themselves in a way that has left me hopeful for the things yet to come in this life of mine.