Gardening "Grounds" Me!

I've been working in my yard ever since the first semi-wam day of spring.  Even before the warmth from the sun could really be felt,  I yearned to get outside and put my hands into the ground.  I looked forward to pulling spring's first dandelions and bindweed sprouts,  normally a boring chore.  I could not wait until I could put my design ideas into play.  This is our first spring in our home.

But,  it's always been that way for me.  Something about the earth calls to me on a spiritual level.  Not just beautiful views of my surroundings,  but actually working the ground,  paying homage to it by growing something beautiful or useful or necessary.  To weed and to sow are acts of celebration.

I think I first noticed the appeal back in 1996 when I first got sober.  I was fortunate enough to have been enrolled in a treatment facility in Newport Beach,  California that was positioned right on the beach.  During beach meetings and free time,  I found myself incessantly,  manically digging into the sand searching for nature's little treasures.  I picked up every shell I could find while sifting my fingers through the sun-kissed sand.  It was amazingly soothing and grounding.  And it became something of a ritual to me.

Later on,  I found rock hunting to have the same soothing,  stress-relieving affect as shell seeking.  Sometimes simply walking and looking,  othertimes digging in hard soil or pounding and crushing hard stone.  I couldn't get enough of it.

Lately,  it's all about planting though.  Same action in some ways,  maintaining a physical connection with this earth.  It's not just something I enjoy doing,  it's more like a calling,  a drive,  a devotion.

I figure that the term "grounding" comes from that feeling I get when I garden (go searching for sea shells,  go mining,  rock hunting).  I feel centerred and peaceful and "at one with the earth".  Suddenly,  it makes perfect sense to me.