THE GARDEN THEORY
In this blog we focus on emotional wellness through an exploration of physical, emotional and spiritual conditions. We look to nature as our blueprint for life, which holds the keys to energy and structure. Everything in nature is in a state of flow and flux, designed to heal or decay for a cyclic and endless continuum of energy. It is an ever changing and evolving lifecycle. In gardens and forests as plants and trees grow, they are increasing the cellular building blocks at a micro-level, until a plant, flower or tree emerges. The integration of cells provides the structure of the plant, flower or tree.
In the same way for emotional wellness, the framework of our thoughts, conscious and unconscious, is the structure of our life experience. Structure is what provides support, order and stability. In nature, elements, matter, and energy all contain some type of structural pattern as well as a frequency. Structure gives form and defines boundaries. Frequency is the energy. While structure, frequency and boundaries are vital to life and form, the concepts of harmony and balance are fundamental in the integrity of life. Feelings and behaviors are at the root of almost all of our human experiences.
Formative elements in nature include harmony in proportion, and geometric stability. The common harmonic element is known as the Golden Mean, which is the sacred ratio found everywhere in nature. This ratio serves as the foundation for design, music and structure, uniting all creation through a harmonious commonality and connection. We can sense it on an intuitive level through art and music. When something is appealing, a harmonious balance exists. The idea of everything falling within an underlying code certainly presents the possibility of order to the universe.
Is this ratio, which appears to be the natural structure of life, at the core of health and healing? The source of connection and creativity stems from this unifying, mystical force found in harmony, which is the basis of Carl Jung’s notion of collective consciousness. Connection is at the forefront of any idea or consideration. Every conscious thought is linked or connected to a chain of other ideas. That there is a root of order to all connectivity and therefore all thought places new meaning to individualism and human interaction. Healing within this realm of thought is what we intend to explore.
Social connections are as complex as the cognitive relationships between neurons and thoughts. The highest level of all energy and the deepest source of all connection, inspiration and creativity is love. Love is expressed and understood through relationships. Our relationship to ourselves, our inner world, inner source, beliefs and values forms the foundation of how we relate and connect. The family unit offers us another example of a core unit of connection. Families connect, disconnect, re-connect and overlap. Social groups and communities operate in similar form. The connectivity between cells, atoms, objects, organisms, motion, matter and all forms including consciousness, flows through the pulse of relationships.
All relationships have a pulse. Pulse is rhythmic energy that adheres to a pattern. Every form of life, matter, energy, organism and system has a pattern or a set of rules to follow. This applies to individuals, families, communities and nations. For a healthy life, there must be a harmonious and rhythmic pulse.
Harmony is remaining in sync with the world around us, in our relationships and our environment. Life is synced in rhythmic energy. To be out of sync with life is to be out of rhythm in any aspect, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Without balance and harmony, only chaos exists. Sickness and dysfunction result from chaos, disorder and disharmony.
Through the comparison and contrast in similarities and differences among beliefs, values, philosophies and behaviors of various groups of people a pattern emerges. The variances that occur at both the macro and micro levels, as in gardens and nature, may hold clues to human behavior, harmony and healing.
Love, balance, structure and harmony represent health and facilitate the healing process. Examine anything that is healthy and has sustained the test of time. Take for example the nautilus shell. The structure of this fascinating snail shelter has survived the Earth’s oceans for the last 500 million years. The chambers and spiral pattern represents the building blocks of the universe, with each chamber increasing by exactly the ratio of the Golden Mean.
The cocoon offers another representation of life’s mysteries. It shelters the caterpillar as he goes through his life transformation until he is ready to emerge. The process is as mysterious as the Golden Mean, yet as certain as life, and metaphorically represents transformation in healing. During the cocoon phase, much of the caterpillar’s body breaks itself down into fundamental components. The cells break apart, rearrange and put themselves back together into a new shape. After undergoing a complete transformation, much of which may cause great discomfort, a new and wondrous creature evolves and when ready, emerges into the world with wings and the ability to fly.
In our own healing, we can look to nature for clues about health, harmony and chaos. It is right there in front of us. We can see what flows with ease, and in contrast, what flows with dis-ease. In healing relationships we talk about things like healthy boundaries, empathy, love, gratitude and appreciation. Within our own emotional landscape we are at peace and have a sense of stability when there is easy, free flow. We are flexible and are able to bend with the environment. We experience dis-ease when the flow gets blocked. Environmental issues can interfere with growth and development, just as in gardening when weeds take over, stealing the nutrients away from other plants, or suffocating root systems. Sometimes the soil gets contaminated, or there is a lack in basic resources such as water, warmth or sunlight. There might be an issue with insects eating away at the leaves, or any number of other environmental factors. But given the right climate, care, tending and love a garden will flourish. All life force follows this basic pattern. We all need love and harmonious energy in order to flow and thrive.