Weeding the inner landscape
Sunny spring days find me grubbing around on hands and knees, pulling up weeds. It is surprisingly hard work; sometimes deeply satisfying. The aesthetic of weeds doesn’t bother me. My motivation behind the work is to give tender new plant growth maximum chance to flourish. That means removing weeds that choke or shadow my plants, or hog necessary nutrients.
My trusty Readers Digest ‘Gardening Year’ explains that ‘weeds compete with cultivated plants for the available light, moisture and plant food, and encourage the spread of pests of diseases’.
It made me think about how we can take the same care of our inner soils, particularly when we want to make new plans, or are taking on new challenges. The weeds of our minds are the stories we tell ourselves - the beliefs we hold - that get in the way of what we want to achieve, that stifle our creativity and weaken our confidence. The seeds of those weeds are often sown early in our lives or careers. They are the silence of an art teacher who ignored a drawing you were proud of, or the careless feedback of an old boss.
Voices turn into stories; seeds turn into weeds: ‘I am not creative/ strategic/ taken seriously’ (insert your chosen weed(s)). They get in the way of growth, they blind us to our strengths and sap us of the courage to do new things. Little disturbs those weeds once they have taken root. In fact, our minds (specifically the Reticular Activating System if you are interested in the neuroscience) - are often subconsciously scanning for things that might fertilise them.
Digging up the weeds of the mind needs careful work. First, you have to recognise those stories and self limiting beliefs for the weeds they are. At some point they might have even been helpful: a plant you wanted, but which has not rioted and taken up way more room than you planned.
Check in with the beliefs you hold about yourself: what do they give you? Do they serve the life or career you want now?
Just pinching off the top of the weed doesn’t work. While it may serve an aesthetic purpose in the short term, any gardener will tell you that weeds need to be pulled up from their roots. The weeds of our minds are the same. We need to understand where they came from and subject them to the cold light of rigorous scrutiny.
Consider the beliefs that you have identified as unhelpful: where did they come from? What conditions allow them to flourish?
Gardeners plan for long term sustainability. They create conditions that prevent weeds thriving - they change the soil structure, plant green manure and consciously scan for early signs that weeds are returning.
What more positive beliefs and stories would you like to grow? Who can act as your ‘green manure’, supporting you and holding you gently accountable for this process?
A final thought.
The ‘Gardening Year’ definition doesn’t include specific species of plants as weeds. For some people, nettles are a weed; for others, they are a source of nutrition, or a valuable nitrogen fixer. The same is true for us. Only you can define what is a weed and a cultivated plant, for you. Make sure that you are cultivating an inner landscape that is fully aligned to you, your goals and your values.
Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash
