Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 46

Cultivating Inner and Outer Landscapes: Reflections on Loss, Gratitude, and Nature’s Wisdom

Here is this week’s Mindful Gardening Newsletter which shares with you the journey of creating a garden of grace both without and within. Here are some of the highlights that you can enjoy.

• Cultivating Inner Gardens in Times of Loss: Discover how tending to your inner landscape through writing and reflection can offer grounding and gratitude amidst personal grief and life’s storms.

• The Transformative Power of the Labyrinth: Learn how walking a labyrinth can be more than a meditative practice—it’s a journey of self-discovery, spiritual awakening, and alignment with life’s deeper rhythms.

• Nurturing Nature, Nurturing the Soul: Explore simple yet impactful ways to support birdlife through rewilding practices and how these acts mirror the care we give to our inner growth.

• Creative Expressions of the Heart: Be inspired by the launch of A Creative Life Substack, celebrating the unfolding of personal truths, and the heartfelt community gathering at the St. Bridget’s Cloak event.

These points highlight the emotional depth, spiritual reflections, and mindful practices woven throughout this newsletter.

Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 46

Here in Cordressagagh this week there hasn’t been much gardening done. My older brother John (Johnnie) passed away in hospital at the age of eighty-four years old. I have spent a lot of time travelling to Armagh and Craigavon organizing the funeral and planning the service of remembrance. Many thanks to my dear friend Michael McCann for all his support and humor in driving me to various venues.

It’s been a week of inner gardening and trying to stay grounded so that after the storm of the previous two weeks that left us without electricity for about seven days that I don’t fall ill. There are still people without power after two weeks. We all need to be kind to ourselves and others. Bee took ill and had to have anti biotics so that she might still be able to be present at the launch of the St. Bridget’s cloak event at Ballyjamesduff Museum yesterday.

Staying Grounded

Sending prayers on the wind.

One of the ways I stay grounded is by writing. This is something I do every morning before I get into the day by way of gardening or other chores although gardening is really never a chore. Writing is a key spiritual practice that I have been doing for years and I put down my sense of well-being to the ability to allow the energy to flow into creative expression. This creative expression is what I call “Inner Gardening.”

Inner gardening is the practice of tending to your inner landscape—nurturing and witnessing your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs with the same care you’d give to a flourishing garden. By consciously planting seeds of love, gratitude, and self-awareness, while gently weeding out fear, doubt, and negativity, you create fertile ground for personal growth and spiritual awakening. This mindful cultivation leads to greater clarity, resilience, and a heart more open to life’s beauty.

This week I got to cultivate the seeds of gratitude as I reflected on my brother John’s life which was to the mind of this writer really a journey into learning how to express thankfulness. If any of us come to the end of our life having learned that lesson, then we are blessed.

If the only prayer you ever say is “Thank You” then that will be enough – Meister Eckhart – Christian Mystic – 1260-1328

Protecting the Bird Life.

I subscribe to various channels on YouTube as many of us do and one of these is about the practice of Re-wilding the Garden. This week I was presented with the invitation to buy what is referred to as a roosting box. This is a bird box where birds gather to keep warm in the cold winter nights and this extends their lives.

My plan is to buy myself one or two of these so that I have them on the south facing wall of the cottage. This will mean that the birds have the benefit from any heat that was part of the day. I will have to source these from outside the U.K. because they seem not to deliver beyond the bounds of mainland Britian. The curse of Brexit or Little Britian.

Planning the Labyrinth

One of the small statues I plan to place on a plinth at the entrance to the labyrinth.

One of the plans for 2025 is to create a labyrinth in the garden which will be another way of practicing being grounded but a labyrinth is much more than this. It allows you to pray and meditate by walking. The labyrinth is an archetypal shape found all over the world and throughout many cultures.

Walking a labyrinth is a powerful symbolic journey that mirrors the path of life itself. Unlike a maze, which is designed to confuse with dead ends and false turns, a labyrinth has a single, winding path that leads you to the centre and back out again. This design represents the inward journey toward self-discovery, reflection, and spiritual awakening. As you walk, each step becomes a meditation, a letting go of distractions and a surrender to the rhythm of the path. The twists and turns symbolize life’s uncertainties, yet the path always leads forward, reminding us that even when we feel lost, we are still moving toward our center.

The labyrinth is a spiritual tool meant to awaken us to the deep rhythm of our lives, to the deep wisdom within us. — Lauren Artress

Reaching the center of the labyrinth symbolizes a moment of stillness, connection, and insight—a sacred space where you can listen to the quiet wisdom within. The return journey represents integration, carrying the clarity and peace from the center back into the world. Walking a labyrinth can be a transformative practice, offering a sense of grounding, renewal, and deeper alignment with your true self. It teaches that life’s journey is not about rushing to the destination but about being present with each step, trusting that the path itself holds meaning and purpose.

Writing A Creative Life Substack

Given that I had no time for the garden this week I put my energy into the development of the new Substack newsletter titled A Creative Life. The intention behind this is to share with other creatives the journey of unfolding what I call The Secret of Secrets within you that you are here to express for your highest good.

Some of the editions that I have written to date (18 so far) include: -

Introduction - Long Time Coming

The Three C's

The Vulnerable Creative

Inner Jihad

The Silent Treatment

Creative Procrastination

Through a Storm

Trusting the Flow and

On the Winding Stairs.

This morning, I see that one of the trees coming into fruition is the hazel tree. In Irish mythology the hazel tree represents the energy of wisdom. The mythical creature the Salmon of Wisdom eats the nuts of the hazel tree, and this is the creature which if eaten gives one the experience of enlightenment.

I went out to the hazel wood because a fire was in my head – The Song of Wandering Aengus – W. B. Yeats.

St. Bridget’s Cloak Launch

One highlight of the week which lifted my spirits was the launch of the Bridgit’s Cloak Project created by Barbara Smith and Morag Donald and inspired by my niece Hannah Dugan. This was launched at the Cavan County Museum in BallyJamesDuff. It was well attended. Bee (Word Alchemy) gave a great speech and Clare Meleady Smith (Yoga Teacher) and I shared the music part of the presentation.

Morag Donald (Crafting Your Soul) invited the guests to take away a some seed paper on which one might write an intention or a blessing that you would then plant in your garden in the late spring to give the seeds the benefit of the warmer earth.

Conclusion

This week has been a profound reminder of the interconnectedness between our inner and outer landscapes. Whether through the quiet reflection of inner gardening, the sacred steps of a labyrinth, or the nurturing of both birdlife and creative expression, each practice invites us to stay grounded amidst life’s inevitable storms.

In honoring my brother John’s life, planting seeds of gratitude, and embracing the wisdom of nature, I am reminded that even in loss and challenge, growth continues. As we move forward, may we carry with us the simple yet powerful prayer of “Thank you,” allowing gratitude to be the root from which all things flourish.

Tony Cuckson – Cordressagagh - Ireland