One Seed. Gardening & Self-Esteem

 

It all begins with a seed, one seed. 

If it does not grow, you plant another and watch it grow. You may want to make a few notes the first time you plant a seed to record what you did and this enables you to repeat the same process or to make changes.

What is important here is not whether the first seed springs into life, but that you plant the second seed and the third.

One of the major faults in our society is to focus on mistakes and doing things wrong. We grade people rather than encourage them. We can only learn by doing and if the first time we try something and it does not work and we get a failing or poor grade we are not encouraged to try again.

What is needed is to change this grading approach to a learn by doing approach; an approach that rewards effort and activity. We must also see the doing as a learning experience that is neither right nor wrong but is education in action. Do this and much else changes.

Our education system, both formal (school) and informal (family, friends), often makes people afraid to step forward and come to the blackboard for fear of being ridiculed and laughed at; this is simply wrong and will not build confidence.

Confidence in yourself is an integral part of self-esteem or how you view you in comparison/contrast to others around you.

When you are confident in yourself you can embrace risk and by doing so learn and grow.

Gardening can assist this process. How?

Gardening is a learn by doing experience that requires the gardener to take a chance and observe and record the results. Careful observation and interaction will allow the gardener to see what works and what does not so that the gardener can learn from the experience and make necessary changes to improve the process.

You cannot fail.

Not all you plant will grow but you will always get positive results if you know your garden, yourself and put the right plant in the right place.

To improve you self-confidence through gardening, start small. Pick three herbs that you like and use in your cooking and pot them up and place them either indoors or out, depending upon where you live and the time of year. Make sure they are placed where they get six hours of sunlight each day and water them as needed.

They will grow.

Make notes of what you did so you can repeat the process or make changes. I always suggest that people keep a garden journal. It does not have to be elaborate. A notebook will do for a small garden. Record what you plant where and when and add regular updates based upon your observations.

You can gradually expand your garden dependent upon your time and available space.

If it is winter where you are when you begin, you can expand you herb garden indoors, or work with houseplants. Keep notes as you go and save seed packs so you know what you plant. The seed pack contains all the information you need to plant your seeds properly.

If you take the first step and plant that first seed and you continue to plant, care for, harvest and record you will notice a often subtle change in your daily behaviour. You have accomplished something and continue to do so on a regular basis.

Over time as you knowledge and skill grows you will also become aware of the wonder of Nature and all that comes together to make a seed become a plant. This is a humbling experience and an essential one as this experience is what prevents confidence from becoming arrogance.

Plant a seed and grow.