Hello. Dr. Anita Johnston here, and I’m getting ready to plant some seeds in my edible flower garden.

I’m not exactly sure why it is that I’ve been fascinated by edible flowers but I have been ever since I was a little girl. I think maybe it’s the idea that it’s a very direct way to literally bring in the beauty of Life. To really take it totally into my entire being.

As I plant the seeds, I get in touch with the great mystery of life and how is it that we, like these seeds, already come with everything we need for life. It’s all there. These little seeds can grow into big bushes or delicate flowers or giant trees. And we don’t have to do anything to make that happen, other than provide the environment that is optimal: the environment that will allow whatever it is that’s already been seeded to come forth.

That’s how it is with the very nature of our being. To entertain the idea (because we can learn so much from nature) that we already are seeded with gifts. The gifts that we have. The gifts that we are meant to bring to the world. But in order for them to come forth, we need to make sure that the ground is fertile, and that it has all the nutrients we need in order to grow. In order to flourish. And we need to make sure that we get the optimal amount of sunshine. Sometimes that means transporting, transplanting, ourselves someplace else. To a sunnier spot.

And sometimes it means making more space, removing weeds, that which does not serve us. Or just making sure there’s enough space around us so that we can grow into who we are meant to be.

It also means not getting hung up in comparing ourselves like worrying that the hollyhock is not going to look like a calendula. Or the pansy is not going to grow tall like a bachelor’s button. Each of these flowers, each one of us, has our own unique beauty. Each of us has our own unique way of being in the world. And we have different requirements. Some of us need more shade. And some of us need more sun.

Our job, really, is tend to our inner garden. So that we can recognize what it is that we need, when we need it — not too much, not too little. And so, if it has rained a lot, perhaps we need less water. And if it's  too crowded, if we have felt too hedged in, then perhaps we need more space.

Tending to our inner garden is really what recovery from disordered eating is. It is paying attention. It is making sure that we have the nutrients that we need. It is making sure that we have the space that we need to grow. And to flourish. And to come into our own Being. Who we are meant to be.

We have a lot that we can learn from nature. Tending requires a certain amount of patience. I can’t make these flowers grow any faster, as much as I would like to. I can give them nutrients and the attention that they need in order to grow and flourish. But I am not totally in charge of the exact shape of their petals. And their colors. I don’t have to be. Because my job is to appreciate what it is that they already have been seeded with. And then allow that to come forth.

My job is to intend. To intend to plant the seed of recovery. Then, to attend, attend to making sure that I’m providing whatever is needed. And then to allow. To allow what is to come forth, to come forth. And finally, to appreciate. To appreciate and enjoy the unfolding. The unfolding of life. The unfolding of recovery. And to see the true beauty of that. To see the mystery of it. To see how actually amazing it is to see what has been seeded come forth. Come forth into the world.

And so, from the Light of the Moon Café, I invite you to tend. Tend to your inner garden. Tend to the miracles that can come forth, to all that has been seeded when you’ve intended to come into the joy of life. The joy of your very Being.

Till next time,

Anita

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