Inner Peace at the Garden Shop

This past week has been a difficult one for me.  I have Celiac, and I inadvertently ate something containing wheat.  I haven’t made one mistake in 18 years since my diagnosis.  But there is always room for mistakes, and I wasn’t being as careful as I usually am.  I didn’t realize what one little teaspoon of wheat could do to my system.  The pain was about an 8 out of 10, and I was considering going to the hospital, but I waited it out.  It took about 3 days for the pain to subside and a week before I was feeling like myself again.  I am now so nervous about eating.  It’s going to be hard to eat out when we go on vacation.  Even when restaurants say they are gluten-free, it is easy for cross-contamination to happen.

While trying to recover and relax, I took a short journey to a local garden shop.  I love this place; it always brings me solace.  I forgot to bring my camera, so I took pictures with my little flip phone.  I just snapped images that appealed to me.  I love that they arrange pots and flowers by color.  It was such a good way to unwind without worrying about my tummy troubles.  There are rows and rows of flowering plants outside, and rows and rows of garden pots inside.  They also have a pond with a fountain and patio landscaping ideas.  Once I saw a peacock wandering the yard, but I missed him this year. One short trip to this beautiful place made me feel so much better.  Even though my energy was low and I was still on a liquid diet,  my mind felt so much more at peace.  Nature truly does heal.

When I returned home, I looked at my photos and thought about writing poems to complement some of my favorite ones.  At first, I thought I’d write haiku, but then I decided I would create my own form.  I have been writing poetry for more than sixty years, and I have never played with creating my own form.  Now was my chance, and the words – Mindful 8 – came to me.  I would write mindful poems that were eight lines long.  Each progressive line had words with one to eight syllables, so that the first line contained a one-syllable word and so on until the last line, which would have eight syllables.  I chose the number eight because it reminded me of the infinity symbol. Also, the number eight is a lemniscate loop, and because there is no clear beginning or end, it can be a wonderful tool for mindfulness, focus, and movement-based meditation. I wanted my poems to represent an infinite, unbroken path, which would help quiet the mind and serve as simple meditations. Here are some examples.  I hope they bring tranquility and serenity.

Mindful 8 Poems