Dandelion Digging!

Today I had a quick call with a friend only to discover that I had interrupted her dandelion digging time outside.  Even though she has lots to do before going away tomorrow, she had gravitated outside do to clear her lawn of some of those emerging dandelions.  We laughed, because although I also have many  things that may seem much more pressing, I too spent some wonderful time with my dandelion pronger outside this afternoon.  Dandelion digging is a great stress reliever for both my friend and me.   I love being outside and digging out those weeds.  Sometimes I reflect on whether the bright cheery dandelions with their edible leaves should be allowed to remain as a lovely contrast to the green grass, but still I dig and clear mostly for my own grounding satisfaction.  I like being alone and having just one focus to clear a little of our wide grass.

Dandelions have deep roots and often emerge again in what seems like mere days.  Eventually, though, areas do stay dandelion free if I can catch them early enough in the season.  I find if I don't dig them out early they can completely take over so there is very little grass left.  My feet do prefer the soft green grass to those harsh dandelion leaves.  One of our neighbours had so many dandelions that he eventually plowed up all his grass and reseeded the area.

One of my daughters has been frustrated this weekend because some painful and harsh weed-like feelings and emotions that she thought had been dug out long ago have been returning these days.  Many issues become part of the terrain of our lives.  We deal with the challenging areas of our lives in different ways over different times in our lives.  If we can recognize their signs and attend to them early enough, sometimes we can prevent them from overpowering us.  Though we have had times of intense emotional digging through therapy, sometimes all that is needed these days is to recognize the feelings and give them some accepting and loving attention, bringing them out into the open so we can give them air and talk about them.  I know there will be times where deeper therapeutic digging may be indicated, but this time I think these emotions may be like those early dandelions that we can root out again before they take over the soft peacefulness of the steady green grass of our souls.