Day three was a day of surprises and insights, so that’s not a bad thing. Firstly, since I’ve removed the social media apps from my phone, I’ve already noticed my relationship with it is subtly changing.
I’ve had no need to check it first thing in the morning and have had nothing to routinely check for during moments of relative quiet. I certainly noticed the difference and if I’ve picked up my phone more than three times today I’d be surprised. It really does reinforce the fact that picking up the phone is almost a tick reaction.
That isn’t to say that I haven’t had moments where I’ve looked to call up Facebook just because there was a momentary lull. It made me realise these moments of peace don’t need to be filled. To say I had a Mr Myagi moment in the Zen garden might be a bit of a stretch, but not by much.
I spent most of the day in the garden. It was the last day of the Bank Holiday, so I took the opportunity to do things that needed me to do nothing mentally taxing which brings me to solitude.
Many people confuse solitude with being alone or being isolated. For me. it’s more about having the space for my mind to process without the imposition of other people’s mental interventions. Whether it’s the religious aim of being in the world but not of the world, or the mindfulness approach of being ‘alone in the moment’, it’s worth cultivating.
Speaking of which, I have been doing some cultivation of my own at the Acreage including some lavender cuttings to extend the small clump already at the top of the driveway. Today’s task was to clear a small trench to plant out fifteen of the best cuttings in hope they’ll produce a low hedge of lavender and attract polonaters to the garden.
Now, the eagle eyed among you will notice there was something of an issue with the driveway which has put me off violets for life – they’re super invasive and only weeding by hand stands a chance to get rid of the attractive devils. I didn’t start with the intention of doing anything about them today and took the approach that I’d see how the day went with all this extra time away from my phone and laptop.
Lavender isn’t the only thing that’s been growing over the spring, so I took the opportunity to pot up some wonderful berries and chance my arm with the successfully overwintered chilli plants.
The three smaller plants in the round blue planters are three fire prairie chilli plants that I lifted last October and have managed to keep going (more or less) over the winter. They lost all their leaves out of pure spite around January and have just come back into leaf. How they’ll do, I’m not sure, but to quote my late mother, ‘they’ve got two chances’. For those concerned that it may yet be too cold rest assured the patio on which they reside is something of a sun trap, so here’s hoping for some Acreage chillies.
The three rather straggly looking plants are in fact tough as old nails and standing up well to everything the Acreage is throwing at them. They are a North American import at the recommendation of my Canadian cousin Vanessa, known colloquially as Saskatoon berries. They don’t mind sun, rain or much else it appears. In a few years they should be producing berries, best described as rather like a blueberry wrapped in marzipan (yes really).
To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. – Mahatma Ghandi
If Ghandi was saying that almost mindless activities (such as hand weeding a drive) can give you the mental bandwidth for clarity of thought, then he’s really onto something.
None of the tasks I undertook required particular skill but they allowed the mind to slow down and drift. I’m certain my blood pressure was significantly lower than it might otherwise have been, plus the drive looks a lot better.
I didn’t miss Facebook and didn’t feel the need to post my activities for the approval of those on my friends list. So, some interesting insights, another day without social media and a better looking drive. Win, win win.