Witnessing disconnect

Hello garden makers, 


It has been a while since I wrote to you. I cringingly used to write to Monty Don but then Sarah Venn pointed out that that was a bit sycophantic! ( Quite right ) I always struggle with the ego within. I suspect Mr Ego plays his part in all our lives to a greater or lesser extent if we have the ears to hear him.

What grounds me is the ground. This amazing planet we tread upon that is our life : water, air, food and pleasure (as well as heartache if our expectations are unrealistic).





This last couple of years I have stepped back from writing about our small back garden, partly because I'm still tired and partly because there are so many that are frankly more eloquent and knowledgeable than me about making gardens. 

This morning however, I read a post on Instagram by Jo McKerr (@jo_pratensisgardens) In which she eloquently described the growing disconnect society has with the land we live on. What struck me most was that this disconnect and dispassion is a symptom of our consumerist lives. It results in a  throwaway mentality, that nothing is worth caring about, including our fellow human beings (especially if they are different to us). We even throw them away if we have the will to do so. 'Our ' political leaders who should be pointing the way to living a wholesome and fulfilling life, instead send strong messages of dispassion and hard heartedness in the guise of security and growth for the tribe.

Our obsession with click bait and AI is part of this alienation from reality. 

I walked with Sue on her 65th birthday this past Saturday to a local National Trust site within the Bannau Brycheiniog. We witnessed drinks bottles, baby wipes, food containers, cans and other forms of consumption thrown into the vegetation along the path and in the river which forms a string of waterfalls. When we reached the main waterfall it was even worse. Many of the visitors were coming to see not the beauty of the flora and appreciate the water, but to see, witness, and record the unreality of Batman's Batcave ! 



I know that many of us that tend a garden understand this connection we have with the soil, with growth and with care, fundamental things. Grounding things that keep us humble. Oh for that connection to be taught and nurtured in our schools. For there to be a dangerous revolution where being alive in all our senses, appreciating limits, understanding disappointment as part of the journey but above all seeing what is right there in front of our eyes everyday we breathe, and feeling the connection, feeling the love and hope. Where politicians finally realise what terrible messages they are sending by not standing up for the vulnerable, and for the land that gives us life.




Paul.



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