A Gardening Journey

My Anticipation

Have you ever looked at your messy drawer or closet and had this sudden inspiration to organize it? If you have, then perhaps a sudden urge to use your artistic creativity surfaces and you become obsessed with that one project. The excitement and joy while working on your task makes you feel alive. The anticipation of completing your project is worth every second of hard work when you can finally see the end result of your masterpiece.

My Joy

For me, my moment of fulfillment is when I can step outside my house and absorb all the positive energy from a colourful garden. The yellows and pinks of a lily radiate its colourful energy towards me just by looking at it. It's as if it almost commands me to be in a better mood immediately as soon as I look at it. Unknowingly, I start feeling happier without much effort. I am inspired to work on my garden every time I think of my grandpa. He was a brilliant gardener and knew all of the Latin words for each flower, plant or tree. He had a deep appreciation for nature and he was passionate about taking plants home that had been neglected by others. He used to take me to work with him on the weekends and he taught me that a dying plant, or a flower with yellow leaves would still bloom if we gave it some love and attention. Plants and flowers are necessary for our ecosystem and we ought to do our best to give them life, just as they give life to us.

My Reality

That being said, I haven’t had a garden for a few years now. I moved into an apartment and I thought there wasn’t a way that I could have what I love in such small area. Not only that, but the little balcony that I have ended up looking like this:

I am not sure how or when this happened, but I looked outside one day and that is what I faced. For three years now, this had been the norm. It appeared to me that because this had been a part of my daily life for so long, I couldn't even see it right in front of me. I didn't realize how much it was affecting me. Little did I know though, that this clutter had been robbing me of true creativity and inspiration. The dirt and messiness became a part of who I was as well. This clutter fogged my true self by imprisoning my creativity. My thoughts were rusty just like my abandoned bicycles.

Luckily, a few weeks ago I woke up to an email that was sent by Vocal.media. The content was encouraging and was providing an opportunity for people like me to show the world what brings them joy. I knew right away that nature, specifically colourful flowers did that for me. As soon as I read the e-mail, I jumped up on my bed, and screamed from the bottom of my lungs with excitement. It was just like what Tom Cruise had done that day on the Oprah show when he jumpled on the couch, expressing his love for Katie Holmes. Yes, I was THAT excited.

My Project

I grabbed my broom, mop, scissors, and garbage bags and headed to work. I emptied the balcony of all the garbage, and unusable old pots. After most of the stuff was gone I started sweeping the ground and only after scrubbing with the mop for hours I could finally see an improvement. Also, once I removed both of my bicycles, there was a lot more space.

Sweeping all the dirt first:

Scrubbing the floor multiple times in order to get it clean:

After a week of washing the balcony with a bucket and a mop, I could finally see some results:

Then I went and bought many different types of flowers:

After some thought and some rearranging of the flowers, I realized that I was missing a little piece of the puzzle. I didn't have the green grass that I always loved tickling my feet when I was walking bare foot. So I had to find a way to bring grass all the way up to the third floor without making a mess. In the end I managed to make a green rug by sticking self adhesive grass tiles on a roll of foam I found in the recycling bin of my apartment building. When I was done, I cut all the excess foam with a pair of scissors and I ended up with a rug that I can roll away in case there is heavy rain.

The final result, my joy:

This project was worth the hard work and time I spent on it. The feeling of accomplishment I received while looking at the flowers brought me to tears as all my thoughts and creations had become a reality. I can now go outside when I need to and energize my inner self before I go out into the busy world we all live in. The day that I was done, I sat down on my chair and I celebrated with a fruity drink and with a Chili Lime Watermelon Pop that I found on sarahhearts.com.

With dedication we can do wonders. Brilliance comes from within. If we allow oursleves to shine, joy is had.

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I LOVE watermelon, and if you like watermelon as much as I do, here is the recipe that I followed for my celebratory heathy dessert shown above in my last picture: