The world can seem like a cruel place sometimes. Sometimes it feels like you "just can't win for losing." I get it. Boy, freaking howdy do I get it. You feel like everything is a chore, all you do is "work" at something all the time. You're tired, mentally and physically, sometimes even spiritually. So, what to do, what. to. do.
I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, though I know at times, that is precisely how people take me. BUT, these are my coping mechanisms, and they have served me well for a good while. That's no small feat either, since I have been a hot mess to varying degrees. I have come to feel like even at my best, hot mess may jump out just any minute given the right circumstances. I think these strategies CAN work for anyone, IF they let them. Life isn't really all that complicated. People make it complicated. People think that complicated is more interesting, more worthy somehow. Complicated is not better any more than simple is somehow LESS because there are fewer moving parts. Like professions. Most people think that being a doctor is better than being a farmer. All things being equal (and they never are, but that is a whole separate post altogether), medical errors are a leading cause of death in the US. Without farmers? You will starve somewhere between 43 and 70 days without food (unless you can grow your own, hunt, you know--farm for yourself). That is PERSPECTIVE.
Perspective is how you see things, and how you see things determines your emotional prospects. Your perspective comes from looking at things from different vantage points or points of view (POV). Sometimes that is from you moving your personal perspective/POV or you consider what others might feel from their perspective/POV. You can also change your perspective by changing WHERE you allow yourself to focus. Focus on the negative, you will always find it. Focus on positives and you will find that too. OR, you can put yourself in nature, your body in the sun or even rain, your feet in soft grass, your hands in the dirt. My Mawmaw used to say, "God made dirt, dirt won't hurt." You are "grounding"yourself whether figuratively or literally, if not both. How do you do that? All of the things I just said about putting yourself in nature will "ground" you in every way AND if you garden? You get tomatoes.
The solid earth beneath your feet has a negative electrical charge, therefore positive electrical charges are naturally attracted to it. Ground wires help the positively charge electricity (ex. lightening strike) travel safely to the ground in a controlled and direct way where it can disperse without the risk of shock, fire, and/or explosion, I think of it as sparks flying because I have a running commentary that is multi sensory). LOL I aspire to be THAT “grounded” because when you can be that grounded, then your risk of shock (to your system), explosion (blowing up emotionally), or fire (and trust me I have scorched my share of Earth and sometimes you have to but that is only useful if you handle it like a controlled burn). Grounding, whether figuratively or actually, provides an alternate path for the electrical circuit, of which we are all a part, to travel to the earth (ground) so as not to endanger anyone working with electricity close by, in the event of a short circuit. And here’s the thing, we are all "linemen" working in close proximity of one another, and people short circuit all the time. The last 2 years have made the volatility of most people the equivalent of exposed wires.
So, grounding is important for us. Grounding in a garden, by working with the land not only changes your perspective allowing you to quiet the brain chatter that comes when we are stressed. Change your perspective, change you emotional prospects. It allows us to disperse the electricity safely for ourselves and others, when there is a “lightening strike.” And how many times have you hurt someone or been hurt by someone because you or they were just wound too tightly (or wounded in some way, which funny wound and wound spelled the same though they sound different because IMO being wounded lends to being wound too tight). I grew up hearing “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” WRONG, words hurt for far longer than a broken bone. I can still feel a tinge from the pain of a broken heart, but have no lasting effects from being cracked in the back of the head with a pulley on the end of a rope when a cousin decided to use that as a lasso on a dock when I was little. Though I can recall the sting of Mercurochrome, but that would break your heart throwing that on a cut (people tell me I mean Merthiolate, so whichever one burned like hot boiling lava). But I digress, and you will learn, I do that a lot.
There is a peace that comes with grounding, and gardening--in particular--is my very favorite way to ground. Putting my hands in the dirt, lifting rocks to dry stack a wall, considering where to plant something based on its needs so that the plant can fulfill my needs whether it be for food, for medicinal properties, for beauty, whatever MY need from that plant is while providing for the plant its needs in order to thrive.There is a pleasure, a deep soothing of the soul when you create a situation and the fruits of your labor are evident and plentiful whether actual fruits or not, the point is the same. The point is to be fruit-“full” and whether it is a full stomach or a full heart, it is ALL fruit that is good for the soul, nutrition. The more we “feed” our souls, the less we need to depend on others for the balance needed within ourselves because outside validation is rarely as nurturing as your own “knowing” in yourself that doesn’t require others to weigh in on your worth (see my future post on validation).
If you think you don’t have time to garden, buy a large pot or planter, and care for 1 plant. I dare you because it will never end with just one whether you grow food or flowers. Gardening is just another addiction, but an addiction with yields that are completely positive. Well, completely positive unless you count sore muscles and briar scratches a deal breaker in which case, you are likely not my audience. My point is that literally and/or figuratively grounding yourself is important for your sanity. It is also important for those around you because they are also working with electricity. Without the proper grounding you can create a painful shock for those unsuspecting “linemen” around you.
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