This is to speak of a personal offering, no matter how small, that we prepare during life. Like a bubble we expand and fill with rare delicacies, until it bursts at death, so we can go and live in it. The garden is when the heart is home. We cannot fool the heart - why should we? When the heart is relaxed and at peace, in defiance of the barbaric daily battle, then it is usually fairly obvious - so we can begin the journey of finding more quality nourishment.

       But we should stop and consider in whose being we live and die, if we wish to practice the art of affection.

       Now this is all very well, but we must begin from a position fairly remote from all this. How do we make a start, when we have little or no idea in which direction our garden lies? The important thing is to make a start. Don't be put off because you feel the perfect activity has not arrived.

       We have certain obligations upon our energy: a job to make money, a family to look after, necessary things to be done to keep body and soul together in a reasonably satisfactory way. After these have made their claim, begin some form of hobby - something to do for no reason whatsoever, except for the sheer enjoyment of doing it. No thoughts of fear, ambition, competition; no interest in gaining approval from friends or others.

       Don't expect to find the 'thing for me' - the garden path is always changing. This is the whole point - in this, more than any other activity in life, can be applied the maxim of 'the journey not the goal', because the essence of the garden is that it gives us a sense of peace and enjoyment just to be doing it. It is in truth a shield against the pressure of concern.

       So simply do something as a hobby - anything. Study another language, volunteer to help in some group activity. You may possibly get a few clues from remembering what you used to enjoy playing as a child. Some people have no problem identifying what to engage in, whilst others take many years, and only start to find their pace late in life. All this is of no importance; it is only necessary to begin.

       The purpose of the garden is to create something of our own unique form of beauty.

       Once it has been established, after it has weathered frosts, drought and plague etc., the next step is to slowly attempt to shift ones whole life into the garden. For some this will never be possible, but in principle what stands between us achieving this is lack of courage. The boldness of the heart is intimately involved with crucial moments, in which we must bite through the wrappings, and take risks.

       This process is ultimately related to the issue of security. In the early stages of development we are often unaware of the profound implications of our aspirations and practices. As we progress we realize that much of the experience we invoke through the application of our strategy, is in essence an exercise in balance.

       The impact of entering into the truth that lies behind the arbitrary facades of our familiar life, causes in us a deep need and longing for some psychic home, with real power to act as a safe harbour. A place to which our spirit flies, when we're lost in the unspeakable vastness - it must have the power to pluck us back from such a fate, or adventure.

       Obviously there are levels of meaning to be contemplated here, but suffice to say that no ordinary superficial pleasure, belief, or group allegiance can possibly hold up under the pressure of balancing such forces, as we are intending through our commitment.

       So the garden is not just a selfish indulgence. It is the mature transformation, and appropriate manifestation of egoism into the flowering of necessity.

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