THERAPEUTIC GARDENING!

By Shirley M. Carolan, ATM-G

This summer, I am finally getting back to enjoying my garden as well as light pruning of bushes and small trees. So different from last year when I couldn’t move or do anything without oxygen. I feel truly blessed to be able to be outdoors admiring nature. I do have a handyman do the heavy work, plus picking up the branches and leaves, which I can’t do yet.

Gardening, for me, is truly therapeutic. I had not realized how much I missed it. Unlike my mother who hated gardening, which I could never understand all the years I lived in an apartment.

I repotted several small plants on the outdoor windowsill of my living room, and the white wicker table on the patio. The reds, pinks, yellows are just gorgeous! I even tended my palm trees and fed them.

It’s also amazing that while indulging in this small pleasure the number of ideas that have flittered through my mind for articles, or chapters for my book “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over!” It’s like getting a bonus for something I enjoy doing anyway! Maybe working with one’s hands has its own rewards? When I feel I’ve had enough, I’ll take a short rest and then go back to my computer and crank out drafts of things that came to me while gardening. I’m never disappointed. Sometimes it may be some questions to ask when next I am the Table Topics Master at my Toastmaster Club.

If you don’t have a garden, don’t fret, houseplants, which I have all over my house, are also fun to work with, talk to and enjoy. I love all the different styles of pots my plants are in and get enormous satisfaction knowing I can redecorate with them.

Now, if only I could get off this oxygen full time! I'm working on it!

Shirley M. Carolan, ATMG
Writer ● Speaker ● Artist
artistwithaflair@att.net
Phone/Fax: 760-732-0663
http://www.shirleycarolan.com
http://www.angelscross.blogspot.com
http://www.smcarolan.blogspot.com

Copyright© 2010 by Shirley M. Carolan. All rights reserved. To reprint any part of this article simply contact Shirley Carolan at artistwithaflair@att.net. Thank you.