Midlife’s A Trip

Weeding Grass in My Garden and Midlife

Posted on 18. Aug, 2008 by Karen in Reflections

I’m a midlife gardener.  It’s not something I planned to do.  Actually I was led to it, reluctantly at first, by friends Gary and Jason who gave me a garden book for Christmas about 5 years ago.   I remember thinking “why are they giving me this?”  At the time I lived in a 3rd floor urban loft with a balcony and no dirt. 

Over the long winter, I found myself turning to the book in the evenings as a distraction from the unrelenting snow and cold.  It became my wish book and by spring, I was itching to get down and dirty and get something growing.  And that’s how this gardener was born.

After a couple of years of successfully nurturing a potted garden on my balcony, I bought a little house with potential and a plain, uninspiring front lawn.  Now mind you, I learned early on from my dad that grass was king.  To him, a manicured front lawn was the goal.  But as a surveyed my new property, it hit me that grass is just plain boring — at least for me.

So over the last 3 years I used my gardening skills (and the sage advice of a master gardener) to get rid of as much grass as possible and create my dream front-yard garden.   

Things are going pretty well this year.  Plants are maturing and the whole vista is coming together.  There’s just one problem.  The grass I always thought was supposed to be in every yard is now cropping up in my garden where it’s not supposed to be.  So you know what that makes it — a weed.   

 It struck me the other day as I was weeding grass out of my ground cover, that I’ve been doing the same kind of work in my midlife – weeding out the things in my life that used to fit or be acceptable but that just don’t work any longer.  Things like bad relationships, jobs I don’t like, people-pleasing, perfectionism and not making time to “smell the flowers”.

What have you been “weeding” out of your midlife lately?

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