My experience, so far, with Shelter In Place.
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During Shelter-In-Place, I have had time to do some projects I have always wanted to do around my house. One of these dreams has been setting up a garden, and now that I have “extra” time at home I have been spending time outside digging up my backyard with the help of my son and husband. I’ll be honest, we’ve lived in this house for a decade, but have never done anything with our backyard space. Due to the older style home we live in, that area is just not visible or easily accessible.
We’ve started by removing the weeds that have taken over as we do one section at a time. Tilling, weeding, cultivating, planting. My son enjoys seeing all of the bugs and worms that are in the dirt. At first, he was afraid of them, but now he is counting them and picking them up with his hands. He thanks the worms for all the amazing work that they do in the soil since I’ve talked to him about why worms are important. Being outside and playing in the dirt has allowed us to get some vitamin D, too, from the sun along with re-connecting to Mother Earth.
I feel this project has allowed me to be more calm mostly because I leave my phone in the house and so I’m able to disconnect from the world a bit more. I am focused on Joshua’s questions or are chatting with him while he plays in the dirt (and the worms that he is loving). I know this garden project is going to take us time to get it ready, and we might not even get it fully planted until May, but the plan (as it actually always has been) is to continue to grow and tend this garden throughout the years.
It is common and typical for us, women especially, to have a list of things that we want to get done in a day or a week. Some of us might have seen this Shelter-In-Place as a way to clean the home from top to bottom or even finish certain projects. These are not bad things to want, but what is not good is when we “beat” ourselves up for not finishing a project or when we bite off more than we can chew. In this time of Shelter-In-Place, we need to be kind to ourselves, but also family. We need to slow down, get out into nature (where safely possible), but not forget to reconnect with the things, tasks, or people that are most important to us (even if the latter involves video chat only). What we shouldn’t be doing right now is making a bigger list of things to do.
The garden, for me, has been good down-time as I spend it with my son out there. In the mornings, we have started to go and wake up the plants and wish them a good day. I’ve let go, as it were, a few things, too, like when Joshua waters the plants they aren’t the only things that get soaked, but it’s fine. After dinner is our normal watering time where we wish the plants a good sleep. Today, after we finished in the garden, Joshua went to the front of the house and wished the plants a good day and told me he was talking with nature. We work a bit in the garden each day and know that, slowly, it is all going to get finished.
This can be a time of self reflection on all aspects of your life. You are self reflecting as am I. This can also be a great time of personal growth and transformation both internally and externally, but, as I was saying with projects, please don't try to conquer the world all in one day or even just a week. Like a garden you have to plant the seeds, water them, and then love them so that they can grow to their full potential. These same things need to happen with you, too, and I hope this shelter-in-place allows you to plant your own seeds of change in your heart, mind, and soul.
- Dr. Anita M. Larrow, ND