My Secret Garden

My Secret Garden

by: Stephanie Andrews

Hello Friends,

It has been a while since I last wrote. The past few weeks have been challenging for me. I sadly experienced the unexpected passing of a young friend. While I didn’t want to begin my note with somber news, it prompted some thoughts about the difficult times that life inevitably brings, alongside the good.  I want to celebrate his life, and yet I feel so sad that it is over.

These are the times that I need to find time to retreat to my secret garden.  This garden is just for me.  It is a place where I can percolate on something, dream, or grieve while doing something that brings me joy. I have 3 gardens.  One is an actual garden, which I enjoy the simplicity of weeding, pruning, and tidying up.  The 2nd garden is puttering around the house, basically upgrading tiny spots.  The 3rd is my morning journaling.  These are little spots that I can escape to have something that I am doing with my hands, and a small part of my brain.  When I go there, I feel freer and safer when I emerge from this place.

Last weekend, as I was processing my grief, I decided to paint the front screen door.  I had been considering it for months, but I finally did it.  It was not a big change, but it was satisfying.  These secret gardens are not reserved for sad times, but they are meant to be private.  Like when you are dreaming of starting something (business, health goals, new relationship, writing a book, etc.), this personal time and space allows time to germinate and grow, or not grow.  To me, this space is different than a hobby, although it can be that too, because it is not the actual thing that I am doing, it is what I am contemplating at the same time.  It is also a place that I can go “for fun and for free”, as my therapist likes to say.

I re-learned about the concept of a secret garden from a book that I stumbled upon at a used bookstore over Memorial Day.  This bookstore has over 10k titles and is in Chattanooga (McKay’s Book Store).  We like to stop there on the way to and from my in-laws in Knoxville.  I am amazed that I could find this one special book in a sea of books! I am reading it, and feel like I have a mentor and a kindred spirit.  Her name is Fiona Ferris, and this book was called 30 Chic Days.  She is a blogger and has written over 10 books!  She provided so much insight in a way that I can consider each day.  I am not through with it yet, but I just ordered another full-price book by Fiona, so I am excited to learn more.

As we were with my in-laws, I noticed their secret gardens.  These are not hidden in any way, but they are deeply personal and important to them.  My father-in-law’s garden is an actual huge garden that he tinkers in every single day.  He has a wildflower patch, a veggie garden, berries, compost, and swaths of grass that he maintains and tames.  My mother-in-law has her health garden.  For the past 30 years, she has been reading about health and nutrition and consistently practicing what she has learned.  As they are both in their 9th decade, I realize how these gardens have helped nurture them, as well.

This week at Balance Design, we went to a seminar called Wellness in Design at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center.  We decided to go as a team, and I am so glad that we did.  We started with a sound bath meditation, moved on to a beautiful talk by Lori Weitzner about the psychology of color with her book: Ode to Color.  For a fun look at this philosophy, consider taking her color test to find the aspects in life that you may be longing for through color.  Sounds a little woo-woo, but we loved it!  Then we learned from some designers who have specified “wellness” in their design philosophy.  I realized that at Balance Design, we had never talked about “wellness” specifically. It is more of an intuitive design process of learning what our clients need physically and mentally in their homes to live a more joy-filled life. That being said, I believe that we will be using some more “wellness” concepts and whole body techniques to include music, scents, and other sense-oriented details to complete their spaces.

I encourage you to think about your secret gardens.  They are secret, so you do not need to share (but I am curious if you would like to)  stephanie@balancedesignatlanta.com.  Take care of yourself in body, mind, and spirit, and have a good weekend.

Until next week,

Stephanie