Last spring, when COVID made being home, the thing to do, I decided I wanted to do some “home” projects. More importantly, I had ideas for my yard. Things I wanted done. I love my house, but the yard has always had potential, it just wasn’t a space I wanted to sit and enjoy. So COVID was going to be my excuse to get out and work in the yard.
Sadly, I am an extrovert with anxiety and depression. The lockdowns hit me harder than expected, I got lonely, depressed and just couldn’t muster the energy to do the work of building the deck, doing the landscaping, filling the hole. This winter, I decided it was worth it for me to hire professionals to do some of the work for me.
I got on Angie’s list and called a landscaper, who came out to do some plantings in the front of the house. They planted things that would be easy for me to care for, and would look good.
Perhaps more importantly they created the space for my labyrinth. They leveled out an area in my yard and put railroad ties around it to separate the space from the rest of the yard.
I had the landscaper fill it with dirt, but I told them I would do the final work of leveling and stuff because my labyrinth will be made from paving stones that I design and make.
That, said, the space is around 18’ x 18’.
In the 2 weeks since the landscaper came, interloping weeds are making their way into the uncompacted dirt.
The work of compaction, is slow and labor intensive.
It took about 35 minutes to do a space that is maybe 9 square feet. Comparing and leveling requires that I rake and pound the dirt. It requires that I pull out the interloping plants. It requires that I get a little sweaty and a little dirty.
Honestly though, isn’t that true of anything worth doing? Doesn’t it all take time, energy, and effort?
I know I will get frustrated. This is going to take longer than I want. My impatient self will kick in. I will want this done quickly. I will want to rush to the finished project. It will be a trial in patience, but in the end, I think I will grow, I will develop, I will change.
My vision will become a reality that only needs to please me.
Tomorrow, I will pound out another 9 square feet. And find gratitude for the fact that I have the time and energy to do this part of the work myself.
Engineering Wholeness 
Congratulations on getting started! I know from your next post that the process is frustrating – “life will find a way” to come up despite all your pounding, won’t it?! But it’s exciting that you have STARTED, woo hoo! I look forward to seeing what you create in your new space. Hugs!
LikeLike