Welcome to my garden!

I think that every garden needs to have a balance of functionality and whimsy.  After all, what would life be without a wee bit of whimsy here and there?  Boring is what.  My Love and I have designed our garden to include things such as flowers, garden boxes in which vegetables and flowers can grow side by side, a rock gathering space with a fire bowl and citronella torches for evenings when the mosquitoes arrive.  It is where we gather for drum circles, hot dog roasts and generally to entertain by the fire at night, and if  the weather cooperates it will be where I have my Elemental Healing Workshop in July! (check out the website below for details)  I love the calm of the evening fire as much as I enjoy the bright colors of the flowerbeds. 
I find it too confining to limit the garden to just a section of flowers and then a section of vegetables etc.  That is why you will find on the other side of the flower bed, amongst peonies and delphiniums  some planted potatoes.  Yes, there is a potato plot at the very back that will be bordered with giant sun flowers when they grow, but if there is space to put something, even if we dig it up later for food, then that is where stuff will grow.  The fairies and devas tell me that this is a perfectly natural way to garden.  After all, in nature you won't find just elm trees growing in a perfect row with nothing else amongst them.  You will find a smattering of everything. 
The arbor is crowned with deer antlers to honor the spirit of the Deer, who also guides me.  Then you will find stone plaques of things like "Welcome to my Garden" and a mosaic of the Sun, a conch shell and solar powered lights that glow and change color at night.  It is a magical place and I love caring for it and enjoying the serenity of it.  When we allow ourselves to be limitless in our creations we end up with a perfect blend of functionality and whimsy.  I will take more photos as things grow from seeds to full foliage and share more with you as we go.
Blessed Be
Trent
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn
www.deerhornshamanic.com

A Totally Zen Experience

This is the Zen garden that is now in my office. It was on my computer desk at home, but I found that sand in a keyboard is not conducive to a functional computer. The box for it is made of pottery and my eldest daughter created it in her pottery class a few years ago. I keep it at the office because this is the candle I will light when I am sending her loving, healing energy. It also serves to just remind me of her throughout the day. The sand is the meditation in and of itself. The teeny weeny rake that is in the top left corner is what I use to rake the sand during the meditation.

I enjoy the Zen garden because it calms me. When I was a kid and a teenager, I was always stirring the sugar bowl at the table. This calmed me as well. It annoyed others, but it calmed me. So when I discovered the Zen garden and the art that it was and the benefits of contemplation and meditation that it promotes, I dove in with both feet (or should I say "fingers")! A Zen garden does not have to be large at all. This one is about 6 inches square. I have seen some that are the size of our new back yard. That is a little much and, the way I see it, as beautiful as it is, that size requires constant work and is like a 5 star hotel for ants and a community washroom for neighbourhood cats. Just a plain old serving bowl will do for a Zen garden. There are a couple of things to be aware of, though. First, the finer the sand the better when stirring and raking. Second, add some stones, shells or a candle for artistic effect. Third, it will take you into an altered state. Fourth, it can be addictive. With all the bad stuff that there is to become addicted to, I figure a Zen garden is the least of anyone's worries!

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Standing Out

The other day my daughters were with me and wanted to see the movie, "What A Girl Wants". It is a charming movie about a teenage girl who goes to England to find her biological father. He turns out to be a politician from an extremely wealthy family. For the sake of his position in society and at work, she tries to become the demure daughter that she thinks he wants her to be. Her boyfriend asks her a very important question, "Why are you trying so hard to fit in, when you were born to stand out?"

That is my favorite line in the movie. There were a number of excellent lines. But this one really speaks to me and to everyone who has tried to be "normal" by sacrificing who they really are. If we could all just remember the fact that we are unique and that this is something to be celebrated, not stifled, the world would be a much more authentic place in which to live.

The truth is that trying to be something that we are not never really serves anyone in any way that could be considered significant. When we become and stay authentic to who we truly are, we serve ourselves and our world in ways that are more deep and meaningful than we sometimes even hope or dream they could be. This is why I enjoy the sandbox. It grounds me and keeps me real and allows me to creatively express myself. Ever since I was a little kid I have enjoyed the sandbox. Now I have a grown up sandbox, called a Zen Garden. It is a beautiful pottery tray that my daughter made in her pottery class, with sand from Hawaii and shells and a stone from the Rockies. It has a teeny weeny rake that I can use to make patterns in the sand. I could go on and on about it, but I won't. The point is that it is part of who I authentically am. And when I am on the beach, I make the most wonderful sand castles. When I make sand castles, most of the kids on the beach end up coming up and asking if they can help me. The answer is always yes. It is amazing what one can learn from a kid while making sand castles.

As an example, I was on a holiday once and was making a sand castle on a beach by a lake when a young boy named Devin came up to me and asked if he could join in. As we were building the sand castle, he revealed to me that he was an only child, that he loved to play the guitar and drums, that his favorite color was blue like the sky, that he could see all sorts of things in the clouds if he looked at them the right way, that his mom and dad were sitting on the bench about a hundred and fifty feet away watching us, that he loved to ride his bicycle, and that he thought that the world would be a better place if there were many more flavors of ice cream from which to select. I had to agree with the ice cream philosophy. Small things like that do indeed make the world a much better place in which to live!

So I invite everyone who reads this to play in the sand. This will help you to discover many a wisdom that is right there, just waiting to be uncovered. I also invite you to build sand castles with children in your world. And while you do, listen to them. They will always surprise you with the knowledge and wisdom that they can impart, when one is able to receive.

Blessed Be

Trent

www.deerhornshamanic.com