Lessons in patience

The wisdom of nature.

Patience is a virtue. Or so they say.

As we moved into the early days of 2022, I settled on the word PATIENCE as my word for the year. I’m not a believer in New Year’s Resolutions or the pressure to better or reinvent ourselves just because the date on the calendar has changed, but I do quite like the feeling of a clean slate. Having a word for the year gives me something to come back to and keep me grounded. Like a nice gentle reminder that I’m the one in control of my life. Although I know it doesn’t always feels that way.

When I chose the word patience it was for many reasons. We were just emerging from two years worth of lockdowns and restrictions. Suddenly being told it was time to “learn to live with covid,” and basically get on with life. There was a general air of impatience around me. People desperate to get back to normal, whatever that means anymore.

For me personally I was trying to rebuild my identity as a business owner, trying to grow something that would survive the tumultuous times we were continuing to live through. I was also trying to figure out how to exist in a world that suddenly felt so full of people. Lockdown and social distancing really highlighted my introverted nature and sparked a lot of anxiety in busy places. Having spoken to others it would seem I’m not alone in this.

So patience became my word, my mantra. I have to admit, it didn’t come easily. Apparently patience isn’t really my strong point, but the more I came back to the word, the more I discovered.

Mother Nature proved to be the wisest of teachers when it came to patience, and I was more than happy to lean into her teachings. As we ambled into spring of 2022 and another growing year in the garden I was excited to embark on my first year of growing a great number of cut flowers from seed. It was a steep learning curve, both in a horticultural sense and in patience. I discovered that seedlings very much grow at their own pace. You can provide light, warmth and nutrients, perhaps even whispering a little prayer as you place the seed into the compost. Some seedlings would thrive, seemingly within a matter of hours after sowing I’d see the tell tale signs that germination had occurred. Others took their time. All I could do was provide the right conditions and then wait. And apparently no amount of checking on them would make them grow any faster!

Growing from seed required a lot of patience.

But it was worth it.

Another of the great lessons my garden taught me in 2022 is that it’s never finished. Without meaning to sound dramatic, this was actually life changing for me. After being on an endless mission to “complete” the garden, it suddenly dawned on my that it’s a living thing. It grows and evolves all the time and so instead of striving for the finish line, I began to focus on the process of working in the garden more than on the end result. Shifting my mindset from “this will be beautiful when it blooms” to, “isn’t this beautiful right now.”

Just this week we’ve had another cold snap. I walked the dogs around the lake and marvelled at the snow sparkling in the March sunlight, alongside the fresh white blossom of the blackthorn. This juxtaposition between the seasons, leaving us standing with one foot in spring and the other in winter, served as the perfect reminder that one season will always lead to another and sometimes the best thing we can do is let nature move at it’s own pace.

Although I have a new word for this year (Grow if you’re interested) I still make a conscious effort to regularly ask myself the question, “how can I be more patient in this situation?” Whether it’s with myself, my family or out in the garden.

An invitation to practice patience

The following are selection of prompts to help you explore where you might practice more patience within your own life. You can pick one or two that you feel drawn to and use them to journal or simply as points to contemplate. Take from this practice whatever you need.

Where do you notice a sense of impatience in your life?

Is this impatience helping or hindering you?

How could you show more patience towards yourself?

What lessons has nature taught you about patience?

When did someone last show you some patience? How did it feel?

---

I’m hoping to get starting on a little bit more seed sowing this weekend. I’m still waiting for another week or so for the majority but there are one or two I’d like to start a little sooner. And if the snow disappears I have some weeding and general tidying to do.

Have you had snow this week too? What’s on your garden to do list for this weekend?

I absolutely love chatting with you in the comments section or you’re welcome to hit reply to this email if you prefer.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Claire x