Essay: Getting back to natural

SOIL ON THE HANDS HELPS REALIGN PRIORITIES

by michelle borst

Gone are the days of stopping by McDonald’s for a No. 1 value meal with a diet Coke, or ordering a large pizza with pepperoni and mushroom, or eating ice cream out of the container while watching my favorite Tracy/Hepburn movie.Well, at least for me those days have gone.With all the stress of my daily, hectic life, I’ve experienced a medical condition that requires a major change in my lifestyle, primarily in my diet.

Spending summers on my grandparents’ farm, I knew the fundamentals of eating healthily, enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, and farm-fresh eggs and milk. But living and working in the city had led me away from those fundamentals, leaving me to rely on the quick and easy, from calorierich fast-food restaurants to preservative-laden, prepackaged and processed foods to tasteless TV dinners.

I was lazy and thoughtless, which resulted in digestive problems, high blood pressure and diabetes. The effort to get back on the right path to a healthful lifestyle was going to be long and tough. So what better way to return to this lifestyle than by revisiting my roots in my garden?

With my battle gear of trowel and spade, garden gloves, baggy blue-jean overalls and ugly, oversized garden hats, as well as a fresh resolve to change my bad habits, I trudged into the dirt patch and began to transform it into my Garden of Eden. I spent several weekends preparing the ground, tilling and mulching, before I could begin the task of seeding and planting.Many times I went to bed exhausted, but I knew that I was trying to accomplish my goal of eating healthier.

But there was an unexpected bonus to my donning floppy hats and baggy pants as I “played” in the dirt. I had forgotten the simple joys to be found in spending a beautiful day amid the flowers and plants in my garden, taking time to smell the roses, as well as the fresh corn, strawberries and sweet peas, issuing a mood of contentment in such a serene setting.

The newfound pleasure of digging in rich soil as I sowed and planted, nurtured and weeded the seedlings left me with feelings akin to those of raising a child – feelings of protectiveness, caring and pride as the seeds blossomed into young seedlings, and then into fully mature plants.

After a long, hectic day at the office, I would return home and seek the solace of my garden, where I would vent my frustration and hostility from the day by “beating” the soil. Digging up weeds and tilling the soil were constructive methods for stress relief, not to mention a great workout that helped with my new attitude for a healthful lifestyle.

The more time I spent in my garden, the more I experienced a connection with Mother Earth – developing an appreciation for all things great and small, the way in which things grow and change, and the small wonders of the world that we too often take for granted. As I began to understand more about the world around me, I began to understand myself a little more, too.

While I enjoy the ups and downs of my career and life in this carnival of a city, it’s the basics I learned in my youth that give me balance. I might have to forgo the cotton candy and caramel apples, but that’s a small price to pay for the ride. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Michelle Borst of Clinton Township is a career mentor with Michigan Works! and a published romance novelist under the pen name Mia Bailey.