Your Super Power

“To plant a garden

is to believe in tomorrow”

Audrey Hepburn

Yesterday, in the grips of a sudden let's-change-the-world fever, I wanted to shake things up and make a real difference. Being a Sunday and not really having the capacity to accomplish a global Superwoman task, I decided instead to move a tree.

Our house is designed with little pockets of grass and small flower beds, tucked away in bends and turns between brick and mortar. The tree in question sits in a large, heavy pot and had to be moved from the front patch of grass through the house to the rear garden.

The plan was to upward roll the pot across the lawn until the front door, hoist it up onto a pot trolley and simply, effortlessly, wheel it down the passageway to the rear door. From there, an easy lift onto the paving, followed by a short upward roll into position in the new garden.

It didn't go to plan.

As we strained and panted lifting the tree onto the pot trolley, an almighty CRACK reverberated as the pot trolley collapsed under the weight of the pot plant. Shards of plastic and broken wheels lay trapped under the pot plant which had to be removed by a series of exhausting roll / yank movements.

By now, I had come to my senses. No more wanting to make big changes. All I was thinking was

What on earth possessed you to insist on moving a tree that was perfectly happy where it was?

The enormous tree was now smack bang in middle of the living room competing for attention with the media system. With a pile of debris behind us, there was no way to go but forward through the house.

With the help of a mat slid under the tree and a series of heavy leg press movements on the floor, we finally inched the tree through the lounge and to the back of the house. One final back-breaking heave onto the pavement, and shuffle shuffle in the existing flower bed until eventually the tree was in its new position.

The result was instantaneous.

In its new position, the tree grounds this tiny wild garden where different shrubs and creepers have permission to grow as they wish. With the tree now here, this little pocket of vegetation has transformed into a place of calm. A place to sit on a bench, enjoying a cup of coffee or tea. A place to think, to recharge, and to escape the digital world we live in.

Yesterday I set out to change the world, and I accomplished that. I changed my  world and made it just that little bit better for me. That was my Superwoman power yesterday.

What's yours?