Abundance or Overwhelm?

The garden is always teaching valuable lessons. Fifteen fruit trees, three grape vines, and multiple annual vegetables adds up to a lot of harvesting and processing of food each year. The exciting part is experimenting with new ideas to use all this delicious abundance.

On the other hand, it is always an incredible amount of work. Often, when people come to see the Sugi Garden, they look around and say, “Wow, it’s a lot of work!” What we see most of the time, though, is abundance.

As the years go by, there have been times when the response is “How are we going to get all of this done?” This is the time when abundance feels like overwhelm!

What can be learned from this change from abundance to overwhelm? The most valuable lesson for us has been asking for help. And sharing the bounty. Not doing it all by ourselves. It’s surprising to see how quickly people say “Yes!” when asked to help.

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In past years, we’ve invited people over for weeding parties. We work alongside them to get the job done. And then, we feed them. One year, someone volunteered to prepare the food instead of weeding. A wonderful way to create community – outdoors and over fresh food!

The satisfaction that comes from sharing the bounty is tangible. Often in these challenging times, we feel isolated or uncertain about where to turn. Feeling overwhelmed can stop us in our tracks. A step can be taken by looking for a place to share your talents – and to say “Yes!” to receiving from others. A reciprocal experience brightens everyone’s day!