Why paint outdoors? Who gets caught up in the business of living life? The chores, the “to do” lists, the needing to be here, there and everywhere. When are you going to give yourself permission to prioritize YOU? Is it when your baby (or grand baby) is sleeping or the extreme, once your children (or grandchildren) are grown? How “spread thin” is too thin?

I’m a little on the repetitive side for sure, but we still have our ‘child within’ that needs time to be creative, relax, explore, pray, meditate. Did you know that colors (music, storytelling, etc.) influence our moods and emotions, just like the seasons of nature do?

Our garden has been created over the last three years. Upon moving into our new home, there were some beautiful established camellia’s and azalea’s. After many deaths in our families, my garden became my retreat, my refuge from the ‘daily grind’ of our world. Digging in the cold dark Earth centered me. I was the little girl who made mud pies in little tiny leftover tins from our kitchen and served them happily to my Mama and Grandmama. They graciously accepted each one with pure delight and enjoyment. Listening to the birds songs soothed my soul.

The colors that began to surround me, plant by plant, blanketed me in God’s warm love. The birds nibbling seeds and splattering about in the bird baths recentered me and allowed me to focus on the simpler things in life.

Returning home on more than one occasion from Home Depot with bags of colored spray paint, I went to town coloring ‘my world’ in our own backyard.

Your Home tells the story of YOU and so does your YARD. How does your story read? Is it a ‘blank canvas’ just waiting to be decorated?

Why not take old china you pick up from Good Will (or thrift store) and write inspirational quotes on them with a paint pen. Throw a plate hanger on it and hang it on a tree. Our youngest child asked if we could use Alice in Wonderland as our inspiration for our backyard. She looked up quotes on the internet and we wrote away. Ashton’s theory was that Alice fell down the dark scary hole into a weird world! Losing 10 family members in 5 years rocked our worlds and her Point was well taken: our world was weird and different now. I thought that was incredibly insightful and certainly profoundly TRUE!!!

Grief, like flowers, comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. My tears flowed like rivers in our garden. I certainly was contributing to our lllower water bill. Months of spray painting, planting and bird watching began to heal the hollow hole in my heart.

We’d created our own ‘sanctuary.’ Our refuge from the hustle and bustle. Our little piece of Heaven on Earth right in our own very back yard. I felt wonderfully blessed. I was comforted in knowing they’d returned to their real home. God called each one by name. But, when the world turns upside down or inside out, we must channel our energy (or lack of) and creativity somewhere. Or, maybe we need to get our hands dirty and “dig” to reconnect with the Earth. It reminds us that we are only just a few ‘particles,’ tiny little pieces of matter all bunched together on this planet in this immensely vast universe in which we are a part.

Besides me enjoying it, my sweet husband began bird watching, refilling the bird feeders and bird baths (something I’d done repetitively). He began to experience a serenity that I’d hoped and prayed would happen. He began cutting flowers and bringing them inside to put in a vase. He’d show us the designs and intricacies of each flower. All of this was new and exciting.

An added bonus, a table or an easel could be set up and I’d paint away. If I was painting on our back porch, which I often do, the serenity seeps in there too. The waterfall flowing, my brother’s’ wind chimes blowing and bird’s chirping. Thank you God. Amen!!!

I have 5 table easels set up right now on our back porch. I set out 5 canvases and pop from one to another with colors I love on my palette. It’s a great way to stay motivated and energized. The “TONE” is set. The garden will prayerfully come back to life again as we had a big snow for Savannah this winter. Our perennials aren’t really snow fans.

Our 30 feet banana trees have been cut back to the roots. Oh how I hope they will surprise us and make their 2018 debut soon.

So, in our garden you can spray paint, decorate, tell your ‘story,’ and ‘paint’ with flowers. Through the array of shapes, colors, textures, designs, lines, edges, thickness, thinness, a garden emerges revealing your story. Nature is on our side. Everything began in a garden.

Let your garden ‘paint’ the story of your life. SLOWN DOWN. Smell the roses. Listen to the trees. Watch the beautiful butterflies, bees and leaves. Absorb the beauty that surrounds us and be inspired with more creativity.

While painting in the garden, decide what is your focal point and ‘blur’ out the rest. SIMPLIFY. Embrace colors: they cheer us up. They captivate us. Planting reenergizes us with a happy childlike energy. May your world be filled with joyous colors.

I believe you’ll be able to tell the two before pictures 😉🦋🌀🌻🎆.