The Outdoor Gal, Finding Inspiration in the DIRTIEST of Places

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find inspiration in the craziest of places. In THIS moment, on THIS day….I found my inspiration in the DIRTIEST of places. I mean IN the dirt. My dirt. The dirt under my fingernails. The dirt under my feet. The dirt in my hands. The dirt that I just tilled up and am walking barefooted in. The dirt I'm about to plant my garden in. I found my inspiration in the dirt. The smell, the feel, and the texture  brings me so much personal satisfaction and peace. I have often told friends over the years that I feel like I am a displaced ridge-runner! There is something inside of me that yearns for the old ways; wilderness, water, mountains and a simpler, but wild way of life….it is why I am the way I am. I didn’t choose the wild-woman ways; they chose me! I love and enjoy the process from start to finish.

I recently saw a meme on Facebook that said, “I love the kind of tiredness that comes from a lot of fresh air and a little too much sun.” I tried to track down who the quote is attributed to, but couldn’t find it, but I stand by the words! The kind of satisfied exhaustion that I feel at the end of a long day of working outside, in the sun, in the earth is a kind of primal, all the way to my bones at the core of my soul …..satisfying. The first turning over of the dirt has the best smell. FRESH.  The third tilling of the ground is the best feeling.  In true ‘TaMara’ fashion….(y’all don’t tell my daddy… he’ll get onto me)…..I walk behind my big old Briggs and Stratton beast of a tiller barefooted! I love to feel the cool, fresh, damp earth on my feet. I can’t explain it! Some of you will know what I am talking about and some of you (like my daddy) will think I am crazy! Which I am….I don’t deny that, but that is beside the point! I’ve done it for YEARS!

I mow barefooted; I garden barefooted; I wander around outside barefooted, and I quite literally used to kick my shoes off and teach barefooted from my podium! My students will attest to that. I am getting sidetracked…..let me gather my thoughts, dig my toes in the dirt a little deeper and reign myself in! The entire point is….The active cultivation, tending and growing  is essential and lifegiving in all ways! I cultivated and grew one of my seeds a little on the extra salty side, but that’s okay too! If you know my daughter you know EXACTLY what I’m referring to! Also…that is not the point….we are all different, and that my friends is the beauty in it. Some of us are extra salty (like Kylie) , some of us are extra sweet, some of us are extra spicy, some of us are extra hearty, but one thing is for certain; we all grow, bloom and bear fruit in our own time! 

If you hear anything that my rambling, wild haired, barefooted, dirty-toed self is saying- I hope it is this……cultivate your life as you would a garden. Cultivate your happiness as you would your flower bed. Cultivate YOU! Cultivate, aerate, fertilize, water, protect and care for you and your happiness as carefully and intentionally as you would the tender little seedlings that we put into the ground in a loving and gentle effort to feed and nourish ourselves and our families! 

Some people like to say in the words of the great Forrest Gump that “Life is like a box of chocolates,'' but I like to say that life is like a garden. With the right conditions, a garden can bear you beautiful blooms and great hearty vegetables that will appease your eyes, smell wonderful. and nourish your body. It is hard work and hurts a little…..but it tastes good. Most times, a little perspective is all you need. The easily found and paid for, in the store veggies are a sore substitute for fresh grown vegetables.….but most of you already know that. Kind of like life…..the easy stuff is there, and it will feed you, but it isn’t the best there is. It is only when you get a little dirty and put in the work, do you get the best there is…..the best that life has to offer. As an added bonus, you get to sit back and smile, and say, “Yeah, I grew that.” It just goes to show you that you never know what you will find when you start digging in the dirt. Who knows, you might just find a little inspiration and a lot of peace! 

~The Outdoor Gal

   TaMara