Technology Break: Gardening is a Great Way to "Break State!"

Sometimes the ongoing pressure of work and having to keep up with the seemingly endless barrage of emails and obligations gets a bit overwhelming.

I imagine most of us have reached that point at some time in our lives.

When I reach "that certain level" of feeling overcooked, my creativity also has a tendency to go down the toilet! No matter how hard I try, I don't seem to be able to dredge up anything interesting to write about, and any attempts to do something with my artwork start to suffer as well.

One of the reasons I have always liked summer is that I can escape outside and work in our garden!

There's something about gardening — about getting your hands in the dirt and growing things — that I just very healing and restoring when you're feeling technological overload. At least I've found that this holds true for myself, and it also holds true for Mrs. Denmarkguy.

Our ongoing "pet project" might constitute what some would label "Urban Homesteading," but it basically involves turning things that used to be relatively manicured neighborhood lawn into raised beds and Native Landscaping that doesn't have to be taken care of.

Every year, we reclaim a little bit more of our property, basically following a popular program in place to the north of us, in British Columbia, Canada: "Grow, Don't Mow."

Our desire to grow more of our own food isn't so much based on alarmist conspiracy theories about dwindling food supplies as it is simply that we like fresh fruits and veggies, and inflation is kind of hitting us in the shorts these days, so growing our own food (from seeds we gathered the year before) just makes a lot of sense!

For me, however, one of the greatest benefits of doing this is the fact that it is a great form of relaxation. Or you might say it's a great form of "Technology Detoxing!"

Sometimes it's difficult to shake the feeling that my brain is slowly being "eaten" by the email stream, social media, working online and more — Steemit not included, as I do this for the enjoyment of writing — and I just want to get away.

Between the beginning of May and the middle of October there are not many days when I'm not outside at least for a couple of hours doing something, and one of the things I noticed is that during the Summers my mental health is also better!

I'm glad that it's not difficult for me to "step away." I was born and raised in the time of rotary phones and before there even was an Internet... so simply setting the phone down for a few hours does not make me feel "twitchy."

And when I come back in from gardening, I feel quite refreshed — even though I likely did some substantial physical work — and much better able to concentrate of the essential tasks at hand.

I high recommend it!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

How about you? Do you enjoy gardening? Do you have a garden? Do you find it to be a good technology break? If not, what DO you do when you need to step away from the computer/phone? Do leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)
Created at 2023.06.17 00:27 PST
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