Habits, Rabbits, and Joy

It’s currently the middle of summer and the natural world is lush with colour. Plants have long been in bloom. Baby birds have taken to the skies. Rabbit kits are long in their stride. And we have almost forgotten that in a few short months, the season will change once again.

Life has a way of becoming routine. Each new day, similar to the last, we don’t notice the change that surrounds us. And even more insipid, is the change that we ourselves experience.

Take a moment with me, to reflect on a habit you carry with you. Maybe it’s something you do each day. A routine you practice once a week. Or a gathering you attend to recognize the changing of seasons. I’m sure you have many rituals that come to your mind. Why do you keep these habits?

It was only recently I’ve come to understand the power of habits. They are small actions, applied consistently over time: and their impact accumulates. That accumulation is hard to appreciate and quantify. Habits are powerful. I would hope that your habits add to your life, better yet, the lives of those around you.

Tending to plants is a small habit that I possess. It’s not an adrenaline-inducing habit or a noble societal pursuit. And yet it brings much joy to my life. While marking the changing of seasons.

In spring, I start anew in the garden with seedlings full of new life. I enjoy small segments of time each day, outside, tending to their needs, breathing the fresh spring air and basking in the rays of sunlight. The plants grow and transform our yard into a busy scene of brilliant colours. It becomes the stage for pollinators, carnal reproduction, and predatory showdowns.

As summer grows old, we begin to reap the literal fruits of our labour. This brings us together with family and friends as we share our food. And we join in conversation together through the preservation of the crop for the winter.

As the north wind grows cold and the garden becomes inhospitable to plants, we move inside for the long hours of darkness that set upon us. I am not inhibited from tending to plants though, there are still green things to care for indoors. A season of thanksgiving and birth brings greenery to our home. And through the seemingly mystical process of hydroponics, we will enjoy fresh herbs and lettuce on the shortest days of the year.

Finally, as I grow weary of the many days of winter, and my mental fortitude has become stretched, it’s time to plant the seeds to begin the cycle again. In short order, the smell of dirt is again present in my life. The small green seedlings emerge and reinvigorate my spirit. The snow remains outside, but each day I am greeted with the reminder that the long warm days of sunshine will return soon.