In his work after WWII, Nazi concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl observed that men without hope die. He wrote that among his fellow inmates, those who were able to connect with a purpose in life were more likely to be among the survivors.
Where do we find something to sustain us when all seems lost? When life becomes barren? When destruction seems imminent? When work is a grind?
Without trivialising these questions, gardening can help sustain the soul. It can remind us of the resilience of life. Seeds sprout in concrete cracks, and barren soil needs only compost and water - and a little loosening - to recover. On our knees, turning the soil can feed more than our bellies. The life it brings can feed our hearts, too.
The small acts of nurturing our garden, of choosing to foster the tiny signs of life emerging and then growing, holds space for hope in our lives.
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