Your initial response may be sure. I have a vegetable garden and weed it regularly, or I have this lovely windowsill garden of herbs that make my dinner fare taste yummy. Or you may be thinking of your lovely flower border that you tend with care. However, I am not asking about anything associated with soil and water. I am really asking if you challenge yourself to grow emotionally.

We all long to be connected and accepted by others. That longing is planted in us even before birth. Yet, our families do not seem to know what to do with that longing. You would think that given the universal nature of this desire that knowing how to do it would be second nature. However, the desire that is so natural is not met with the knowledge of how to do it. In fact, most families seem to be totally oblivious to teaching their children how to make meaningful connections with others. This training starts at birth. We are all physical beings, and think about this. We have been in a womb where all parts of us have been touched constantly as we float in a fluid environment. No wonder we like to go back into fluid environments: the swimming pool, the bath, the ocean. I think if we could, we might just float around all the time. When we fall in love, we describe it as “floating on air”. That is not surprising when you put it into this context of being created in a supportive pool and loving the experience of continuing to float around be it in the tub, the pool, or the ocean. When are you “floating”? Take that experience seriously and expand on it. Find ways to experience the world as your support system, as though you were floating. Grow into the support systems that are offered to you. Be present with those who love you and be the support for those that you love. You were born connected. Grow into those connections.