Stillness

Meanwhile the mind, from pleasure less, 

Withdraws into its happiness; 

The mind, that ocean where each kind 

Does straight its own resemblance find, 

Yet it creates, transcending these, 

Far other worlds, and other seas; 

Annihilating all that’s made 

To a green thought in a green shade. 
(An excerpt from 'The Garden' by Andrew Marvell)

My favorite spot at home is in my garden. What is it about plants that awakens this deep connectedness, a deep abiding and comfort? Plants excite me, calm me, inspire me, lull me...a paradoxical range of feelings, if ever there was such a thing.

There is something about the stillness of plants...Beautiful but still. Fruitful and still. Purposeful while still. Dynamic, changing, dying yet still. There is freedom in that stillness. No need to prove or be anything but what we are. Just be. We really are like these plants in all ways but one.

Our powerful minds take us over, sometimes. Our heads rule with our reasoning and rationalizations and calculations. We need that too, yet I believe our creativity comes from the heart. It is harnessed when we let go of reason, and explanations, and allow our imagination to dwell in stillness, without influence, whys and wherefores and buts. Stillness in faith and love. Let intuition take over.

Gardens serve both as hotbed of creative explosion and a calming retreat.

My green thoughts in my green shade.