My garden is an outdoor office
Writing doesn't always happen at a desk
I’ve been spending a lot of time in my garden lately. Not just the daily poke around the garden, pulling a few weeds and watering the veggies and potted plants while my dogs do their morning business. That’s important, and it’s one of my favorite parts of a summer day. But I’ve also been spending time out there, merely meandering and watching the bumblebees. Hoping to catch a glimpse of a monarch on the milkweed. Snapping photos of red admirals atop the coneflowers. Spotting black swallowtail caterpillars on the dill!
I’ve been doing a lot of writing in the garden lately too. Not sitting outside in view of the garden with a notebook and pen in hand, though that’s happened too. No, I mean composing lines of poetry in my mind as I stroll along. While my nose notices the scent of roses and my eyes follow a flutter of wings, my mind is often busy working out the rhymes in a challenging poem or pondering a picture book idea I’ve been thinking about writing for a while.
Often times when I’m stuck on a piece of writing—a picture book, a poem, a newsletter draft—I’ll move away from my computer or set down my notebook and go do a chore. I’ll fold some laundry or run the vacuum cleaner in an effort to give my mind a little freedom to move. It works most of the time. And the same thing often happens when I’m out in the garden, except that it’s not usually intentional. Usually I go out to the garden for the simple enjoyment of it, but the result can be the same or even better than when I’m doing a boring or tedious task like folding socks!
What is it about the garden that works like magic for my creative brain? Perhaps it’s the fact that I have no ulterior motive, that I’m doing something for the pure pleasure of it. And, since my mind is always buzzing like a busy bee anyway, it can’t help but discover a bud of inspiration eventually.
So many ideas have come to me while I’ve been in the garden. There was the time I spotted a blue-green bee on the asters that inspired an idea for a picture book. I’ve written stories about cardinals, articles about hummingbirds, poems about bees and butterflies and flowers. But the garden doesn’t just give me garden ideas. Just last week some new stanzas for a nonsense poem came to me while I examined my tomato plants!
To me, being a writer is like being a gardener in some ways. I plant the seeds of ideas and nurture them, removing weeds and pruning whatever’s keeping them from developing to their full potential.
It’s no wonder, then, that when I’m out in the garden, it nurtures my mind and helps my ideas to bloom.
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I’m curious. What helps your ideas to bloom?
Children’s books featuring gardens
Badger’s Perfect Garden by Marsha Diane Arnold, illustrated by Romano Kaulitzki (picture book)
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small
The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt (middle grade fantasy novel in verse )
Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandin (picture book)
The Rough Patch by Brian Lies (picture book)
I find that as well - stepping away from the "work area" helps my mind work better. I noticed it first thanks to nap time. Since having my 2nd daughter (8 years ago) I've been napping in the afternoon, and that time of rest (even if I don't actually sleep) is when my brain gives me all sorts of ideas. It loves to ponder fun "what if" questions and also process and meditate on what I’ve been reading in the Bible lately. For me, nap time and gardening usually naturally become times of meditation and prayer (or “chatting with God” time).
When I figure it out I'll let you know. I feel like I've been flat-out the past few weeks with no time to let my thoughts meander where they will.