Relaxation, Gardening and Tired Hands!

I know that a lot of people don't particularly like gardening, and they especially don't like to be pulling weeds, but I actually find gardening very relaxing and almost like a meditation.

This morning, my brain was rather fuzzy and when I sat down at the computer to start a day's work, it seemed like I was having a lot of trouble concentrating. After about half an hour of futility, I decided that perhaps the best thing I could do for myself was to go outside and do something completely "analog." Get away from the technology for a day!

It is interesting how sore your muscles can get when you use them to do something you don't normally do even if you're actually quite fit!

Pulling weeds — for an extended period of time — is one of those things that uses muscles I don't normally use. For example, my fingers are extremely sore right now and my right shoulder and the right side of my back are also feeling a little tender as a result of the constant pulling movement for several hours.

I should add here, that I wasn't just pulling little shoots; I was actually removing 2-foot tall thistles and grasses with considerably deep roots.

The good news is that I did get the bed that is going to become our future potato patch completely weeded and it is now ready to go. The other good news is that once I got a couple of hours into being out in the fresh air and not thinking about what's going on online don't let the fuzziness in my head cleared right up!

I can't help but think that we sometimes spend too much time sitting down and just looking at our electronic screens, as opposed to being engaged in things that actually puts us out in our physical surroundings.

I definitely feel a lot better for having spent today outside, even though I also managed to get a little bit sunburned in the process! I didn't even think about all the work I didn't get done inside!

Perhaps the reason I find gardening to be so relaxing is that I can be alone with my thoughts without having a bunch of additional input from YouTube videos, twitter feeds and Facebook updates and whatever else is going on.

Weeding, and gardening in general, just seem to slow down my racing brain, and that's something I really need because sometimes I just end up feeling overwhelmed by all the noise that comes from the Internet.

Meanwhile, it is Memorial Day weekend here in the USA — generally called "Remembrance Day" elsewhere — so Monday will be a bank holiday.

Although I don't have any immediate family members who died at war, my thoughts go out to those who do.

Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your weekend!

How about you? Do you enjoy gardening? DO you find it relaxing... or is it just a "chore?" Do leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2023.05.28 00:10 PST
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