Surviving Narcissismby Jesse Blayne

That window gets smaller every year – that time between the excitement of Spring planting and the heat of Summer bringing pervasive weeds.  This year the window was particularly small.  Seems like we waited forever for summer to get here, and suddenly the weeds have taken over the garden.

I headed out this morning, spade in hand, to perch on my little stool, and begin a little garden therapy.   The tomatoes, herbs and pumpkins are being taken over because of neglect, on my part.  That just guarantees me more garden counseling sessions.

As I started pulling, I went for the biggest weeds first.  By pulling the largest weeds first, it made the task less daunting.  The big weeds made it look like there were more renegades in the garden than there really were.  The big stuff magnified all the little stuff.  Once the big ones were out of the way, it seemed like the job was more manageable.  But, I can’t just start yanking at those big ones.  I have to work at them a bit, and tease out the root, so I get the whole plant.  It’s best if I wet the soil a bit, first.  There’s prep work involved.  But if I do the prep work, the job is much easier.

I’m pretty good at tuning everything out while pulling weeds, and my mind is free to wander where it will.  Because my mind was free to associate, I noticed how pulling the big weeds in the garden is a lot like dealing with the big issues in my life.  If I take care of the big stuff, the little stuff seems less daunting.  Just like in the garden, those big issues make the smaller issues seem more difficult than they really are.

There’s a sense of accomplishment when I successfully go after the big things.  Then, I build momentum, and start quickly raking up all the little stuff.

With some serious prepping and laying of  groundwork, I managed to ‘pull’ the big weed in my life.  Most of the little issues don’t even seem like problems anymore.