How our mind is like a garden.

I like this idea of our mind being a garden.

It speaks to us as humans. Spiritually/Biblically, it all starts with God creating the Garden of Eden, and eventually giving man the responsibility of working the land, being fruitful, and multiplying.

From a more Earthly/practical standpoint, any human experience is rooted in our food supply, which, in some way or another, is derived from the land.

So viewing our mind as a garden is a beautiful and functional way to categorize the world around us.

A quick Google check…

Now, I did have an idea for a poem that would go something like this: Your mind is a garden // your thoughts are the seeds… until I JUST Googled “your mind is a garden” and saw that this is already a fleshed-out idea.

However, the poem I read ends as “the harvest will bring either flowers or weeds.” But that’s not the way to think about it.

Because no one intentionally plants weeds. They’re, by definition, plants that grow where they’re not planted. So if you’re given a plot of land and don’t do anything to it, weeds will grow. The poem I just read insinuates that your thoughts will plant flowers or will plant weeds, which, again, you don’t plant weeds. They just happen to grow. So your thoughts can’t plant weeds.

So “weeds” growing would be more akin to neglecting your mind, not working on it as you should, not setting it up intentionally.

So what should you do with this plot of land?

The first thing to do is put a fence around it. Arm yourself with whatever you’ve got. And protect it with your life. You know those motifs in our TV shows/movies where there’s a stern old man in a rocking chair with a shotgun within arm’s reach? Like Clint Eastwood murmuring, “get off my lawn.” This should be you.

Historically, people have probably dumped their trash in this land. It’s probably in rough shape. When you put a fence around it and are willing to defend your boundaries, your typical visitor may look at you weirdly. “I didn’t know this belonged to somebody” “But this is where I always walk/dump/etc.” “Fine, I won’t come back.”

Next, get to work

You probably have some work to do. Planning out what you want your garden to become, removing (sometimes burning down) whatever was there before, and tilling the soil. All thankless work, all necessary work.

You’ll get some weird looks. I mean, imagine the first people to farm. People looked at them sideways, “Well, the fruit is already out there, why don’t you just go out there to find it? Animals will come and go as they please; you have to go to them. You’re gonna starve.”

We used to spend all our energy, time, and effort to go out and get our food. The first farmers used all their energy, time, and effort to prep their land. So one group of people got a buffalo and some fruit baskets out of it, and the other group had mixed up dirt. In fairness to the hunter/gatherers, you can’t eat dirt.

Of course, we know over time, farmers reaped what they sowed, their investments paid off, they controlled the food supply and eventually became the kings.

Choices, choices, choices

Okay, so now you’ve done all this work. Now you must think, what do you want your garden to become?

Some go hyper-capitalist, squeezing out every inch of fertile soil in their mind, and eventually taking control of other’s plots of lands too.

Some go family-farm style, with a couple of nice animals, a picturesque landscape, enough to feed your family, with some leftovers for the community you live in. An honest life.

Others forego food supply. Their mind becomes preserved land, National Geographic vibes, beautiful, untouched, remote.

Or you can create a Zen garden of sorts – no functionality, just beauty. Others can visit (for a price) and tread lightly on the pre-paved paths.

Or you can create a secret garden, a place where no one else knows a la Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know.” I think there was another movie from my childhood called “The Secret Garden.” Something like that.

Or, forego flora/fauna, build a house, an amusement park, a church, etc. Something no one ever thought about before. Something no one was ever brave enough to build. This is your mind, do with it what you wish.

The Reaper and the Sower

There is something uniquely human about our ability to do this. Animals, plants, and all other things are products of the environment. In Newtonian terms, they are the “pushed.” Humans are both the “pushed” and the “pusher.” Both the reaper of their thoughts and the sower of their thoughts.

But…

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Gardens are hard to grow. It’s so much easier to let your land be used as dumping grounds, a weed-infested plot, or a sandbox of neglect. And you can do everything right, and your seeds may not even grow for who-knows-why. Again, it’s thankless work.

BUT…

It’s worth it. There’s something beautiful about making the decision to die for your land. You care about it that much. No one’s going to take it from you.

And once you have finally given yourself ownership of it, you can plan, work, and become whatever you’d like.

So defend your peace (piece of land, that is). Choose your thoughts intentionally. And reap what you sow.