Gardening for Emotional Intelligence

One of the better books I have read over the years is Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence.  The whole concept of “emotional intelligence” is one I’ve found quite helpful.  In our family we talk about being “heart smart”; that is, it is as important to develop our heart as our mind (or our body), to care as it is to think.

One of the core competencies in emotional intelligence is the ability to manage our moods (I can’t care consistently for anybody else if I’m at the mercy of my moods).  There are definite skills that can be learned in this regard, and they can make a big difference.

For me, gardening is a “mood manager.”  It builds having something to look forward to into the very fabric of my life.  You might say that every day it gives my life a “positive charge.”

There are so many things to look forward to in gardening.  The arrival of seed catalogs in winter.  Planting seeds in spring.  Waiting to see what will come up and when.  Anticipating blooms and fruits and vegetables in summer.  Harvesting and eating and enjoying in fall.  And then, as fall begins to give way to winter once again, looking forward to getting a break from all the work a garden entails!

We garden not only for plants, but for animals.  Most of our plants are chosen to bring in birds or butterflies or create habitats that welcome turtles and toads.   So I also look forward to seeing when various animals will show up in the garden, and then when we’ll see them again.  Currently, for instance, I’m wondering when our box turtles will make their first appearance.

Of course, there are many days I don’t get to spend much time in the garden.  Like now.  These last two days have been far too busy to yield any garden time.  The next three days will be more of the same.  But on Friday—Lord willing—I should have plenty of time to plant at least some of the packets of seeds that recently arrived in the mail.  So even when I don’t get out in the garden, I still have something to look forward to—the day when I will!

As much as I look forward to these things, what I’m really looking forward to at the moment is going to sleep.  Come to think of it, that’s a pretty important mood manager too, isn’t it?!