Playing in the Dirt Why Gardening is so Therapeutic ...
For children, a favorite pastime is digging in the dirt. Whether with a brightly-colored pail and shovel or only with a spoon stolen from Mom's silverware drawer, children find magic in the world around them, in the very earth itself.
We stop digging in the dirt when we grow up. There are no more sandcastles or mud pies topped with bright red berries or wriggling earthworms that make us go ewwww. Even when we work in the garden, we kneel on padded cushions and don gardening gloves, avoiding all contact with the earth around us.
It's no wonder, though, that many people find gardening so therapeutic. As adults, we can recapture some of that childhood magic when we garden. I find that when my spirits are low I'll gravitate toward the plant department at the local department store. I'll find myself buying big bags of rich potting soil and lush green plants. In the spring, in lieu of plants, I'll spend long chunks of time perusing the seed packets for new varieties of coleus seeds, my favorite seed-starting endeavor.
There's something therapeutic about sinking your hands into lush soil, whether natural outdoor earth, or your favorite brand of potting soil. Planting inspires a feeling of connection with the world around you. Plus, when planting seeds or young plans, there's a feeling of the fostering of new life, of bringing something beautiful into the world.
Since plants also take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, there's an honest-to-goodness scientific reason for why planting make you feel better. They're oxygenating the room around you. You're creating a healthier environment when you garden. As an added benefit to indoor gardening, many houseplants filter out toxins and make your air cleaner
For those of us who work too much in front of a computer or in an office, there's also the reward of digging in, of rolling up our sleeves and working with our hands. In and of itself, that's therapeutic for many.
But still, there's something more at the root of it, just the feel of soil on your hands. I never garden with gloves and I'll gladly suffer the scrubbing of soil from beneath my fingernails.
There's a reason children so love to play in the dirt. At the heart of it, it's something unexplainable, a true connection to the earth we live on. And hey, it's fun to get a little dirty sometimes, because there's just nothing like playing in the dirt to brighten your mood.