About five years ago, during a particularly unsettled time in my life, I was gifted with a little garden to take care of for a year.
It wasn’t an intentional gift, but as no one else did, I took it on. One day, as Spring was just unfurling, I wandered out, filled a pot with soil and planted beans. And to my genuine surprise – they grew!
The grass was ragged and uneven; I’d set out to simply neaten it up…a few hours later I found I had mowed, raked, edged, reseeded. Over the Spring I planted and the Summer brought vegetables I had tended and flowers bloomed. In the midst of uncertainty, hands full of dirt and soil grounded me; simplicity, fresh air and focus soothed an anxious mind.
The work, of course, was never complete.
Always weeding to be done; seedlings to plant out; watering, feeding, mowing, picking, composting…
The work was never done. And it wasn’t even mine to keep. I could’ve let it go to seed, no one expected it to be cared for. At the end of the year, the owners would return and I would give it all back.
But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that season. That day. The opportunity to play and watch it grow. That was the joy.
Joy of tending. Joy in being a part of the cycle, the turn of the seasons and forces so much bigger than myself. Realising that I could never be in control of this, I didn’t try. I was happy just to partake. Enjoying not really knowing what I was doing and quietly finding the confidence to have a go.
I got the bug, and now with my own garden to play with, I can lose hours messing about with fingernails full of dirt, still not really knowing what I’m doing. Committing to work that will never be done. Isn’t it all a bit….pointless?
Yes, there are times it is overwhelming.
And times where there is no time at all.
But I know it is there, and continuing with or without me. Things will unfold, the garden will grow (not caring how neat it’s lawn edge is), unsettled times will pass. I will get stuck back in.
And so it is with our yoga – oh yoga, you perfect, beautiful analogy! – work without end.
No final destination; no medals on offer. We can return to it time and time again; it is never done.
At each return there is potential for deeper understanding. Quietly finding confidence to have a go. And yes, joy in the work.
And so we return to the mat, to our practice, just as I return to my garden; learning the point of pointlessness. Embracing the work to be done….and trusting in the process. Nature does not hurry, and yet everything gets done. Doing the work simply because it brings us joy.
Do your work and then step back
The only path to serenity
– Lao Tzu
Wishing you joyfully pointless times this Summer, tending what you love and loving what you tend xx
