I was in London, England, having a wonderful time visiting my daughter for eight days, got back on Saturday. Since then, I have looked at the Tranquil Garden, walked through it, took note of a few chores to do, watered my planters, which were in dire need; but not much else has been accomplished. I could blame jet lag, work, other household chores, books I’m reading, essays I’m writing, etc., and all those would be legit excuses, but what it comes down to is the Autumn lethargy.
Am I the only gardener who feels like it’s time to give up now? The leaves aren’t even off the trees (except for the chestnut, which is completely bare) and I’m already feeling like I might as well bring in the plants I want to save and clean out the rest of the planters. I was thinking, is it too soon to cut the peonies off at the ground? I definitely need to mow the lawn, do some serious dead-heading and probably weed out the beds, although I haven’t dared to look too closely at the state of those beds. Everything still looks kind of beautiful (in a wild, unkempt way), but it’s giving me more guilt than pleasure now. I’ve let it go much too much this year and it’s weighing on me. It’s hard to get motivated to do much serious work, when you won’t see the results until next spring. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, maybe I can get going on that list in the next few days.
Getting back to the many things distracting me from gardening, I have been reading “The Artist’s Way” by Julie Cameron. It’s not only a self-help book for artists who need a reboot, but also a 12-week course with tasks for each week to get you going. It’s for artists in general; writers, painters, poets, musicians, any kind. It’s for finding your inner artist, even if you don’t think you have one. Everyone has a creative streak, it just needs to be brought out. The book is terrific and I can feel even during week one that it’s going to help me in the creative process I’m on. However, it talks a lot about “the Creator” and “God”, and even though Cameron explains that when she uses those terms, it’s just short-hand for whatever creative spirit is out there so you can substitute anything you want, I’ve found it a bit annoying so far. I’m coming to terms with it, though, because I think the process will be worth it; and who knows, I may even be convinced by the end that there’s a Creative Spirit out there that binds us all together. Stay tuned. If you want to hear her talk about a part of the course called “morning pages”, here‘s a link. She’s quite entertaining and intriguing.
Here’s another tune from the incredible album, “Elis and Tom”. This is a live version of “Corcovado”. My husband just bought this album on vinyl and it was like I’d never heard it before.
I love to hear from you!