THE GARDENER by Mary McManus

The poem, The Gardener, came to me during a meditation…

For years - for decades really - I was searching. I was looking for answers to what I had lived through. I wanted to make sense out of tragedy. When I stopped looking for answers outside of myself, when I stopped grasping, and when I finally listened to how my Spirit was speaking to me through a body that shut down, the healing finally began.

This poem speaks to the importance of tending to the garden of our soul and taking time to go within.

There is sorrow in life. The tears that fall are not in vain, but are there to water the seeds of transformation so we can grow into the fullness of our Being.

Pain is our greatest teacher if we use it to help us to awaken and blossom as the beautiful flowers our Divine Creator intended us to be.

When we align with the Love of Source, weed our garden from thoughts that separate us from that Love, our hearts open and we turn our faces to the sun becoming radiant.

The Gardener

It's not about you

It's not about me

It's about something far greater

making the world a better place

What does that mean?

Who do you follow?

Do you follow your heart

distilling and discerning from teachers who went before

who now guide you?

The wisdom is in your hearts

look within and tend to the garden of your souls

using the richest soil of tenderness, kindness and compassion.

The storms of life are your best teachers

fertilizer to help you grow

water the garden with the tears of transformation

grounded in the present moment

firmly rooted in your Truth.

Pull out the weeds of jealousy, competition, discontent and self loathing

that choke the roots of the beautiful flowers

reach toward the light

bend with the breeze being One with all that is.

Photography by Lars Vandergood~

(The Gardener was originally published in Songs of Freedom:

Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume II: Seasons of the Soul now available on Amazon)

Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for healing, light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. Her journey of transformation took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013, Mary graduated South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon here.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

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