Weeds. Not the one that makes you feel strangely happy but the ones considered by farmers as nuisance or enemies. They grow everywhere! Even on asphalted roads, they find their way through the cracks and still grow happily.
There are numerous ways to consider different things or situations such as the way we perceive weeds. It's like a rainy weather. For the farmers who hope for rain to water the parched lands, rain is a blessing. As for the people who were supposed to have a picnic outside, the rain is a bother. It is all about how we perceive things. Whether things are good or bad, it solely depends on us, in fact, only us humans classify things as good or bad, increasing or decreasing, democratic or republic, rich or poor, we simply love to dichotomize everything! But for nature, everything simply is. Everything and anything simply occurs as it is how it is supposed to occur. There is no enemy nor win or lose, everything is part of one universal whole.
This brings me as to how I perceive the weeds. When I was in college, we were always taught that weeds are something to get rid of. Anything that is not the crop you want to grow, or any undesirable plant is considered a weed. I remembered this definition from my class then I smiled and laughed. I thought "Well, if I consider every plant in my land as desirable then my weed problem is gone!" I looked at "weeds" as something beyond their current state. Each plant has their own purpose to fulfil, thus, none being undesirable. I am seeing the flower, the vegetables, the fruits, within the "weeds". The previously arduous and draining job of weeding or cutting grass has become a fascinating job as I saw that these will soon transform into another form.
These so called "weeds" also produce very beautiful flowers.
With these in mind and heart, I continued on my job in clearing the land. The plants were already my height and they were about as thick as a pinky finger. Clearing almost a hectare of land by hand by myself is very difficult so I used a grass cutter. Oh how happy I felt as I cut the plants. It's as if I was correcting the misuse or negligence of the previous owner!
Before cutting the plants
After cutting for about 7 hours
I can already see vegetables, berries, and some grains growing around!
Being a steward of the land is similar to how we use our minds. If we allow "weed" seeds to grow and flourish without control, our land will soon be devoured by it. Our mind is like the soil that carries millions of weed seeds. We can choose to decide not to nurture these "weed" seeds and let them control our thoughts. We can never be without weed seeds in our mind, but it is up to us whether we cultivate it or not. The harder we try to remove these negative thoughts, the more difficult it will become. Let us accept that inside us, we do have these seeds of negative thoughts within us and we have the choice to water it or not.
Happy gardening everybody!
