Weeding Your Spiritual Life

Spontaneous Ponderings

It’s that time of year when the gardener in me comes out. My husband and I work to prepare the soil, then I plant the seeds and water them. And inevitably, the weeds start to grow. Weeding is definitely not one of my favorite gardening tasks, but it is a necessary one. So over the past couple weeks, I set myself the task of weeding the garden and putting down some weed barrier.

First section weeded (I forgot to take the true “before” picture!)

Second section weeded

Weed barrier on first section (with the awesome help of my 10-year-old nephew)

Weed barrier on last section (with the help of my nephew again)

Coincidentally (or not), I’m also working through a decluttering challenge at the same time, and I got to thinking about how weeding a garden is similar to decluttering. I’ve learned that decluttering can be not only about physical space but also about mental space, emotional baggage, and full schedules. So weeding a garden parallels decluttering in several ways:

1. It allows you to clear out the things that don’t matter (weeds / stuff) so you can see the things you enjoy and want to focus on (veggie plants / favorite possessions, relationships). If you have so much stuff everywhere, you can’t even see the things that really hold the most meaning for you.