Time to Clean Up and Clean Out

I'm finding that January is a great time to think about what I really want and need. As I clean up and clean out my desktop, email, desk, and office I am thinking about what is really important to me. What do I want to savor and keep? There are things I want to be surrounded by to improve my sense of happiness and well-being, but I also see too much trash. In the last few years I purchased too many things that were over packaged in plastic, and the packaging just keeps getting bigger.

I'm not sure what to do about some of my over packaged purchasing, but I am buying less and using things longer so that is one step. I love gadgets and electronics, but it is getting harder to ignore my invasive footprint. I enjoy buying fruit at Costco, but I've been noticing the volumes of plastic packaging. For the past few months we have been buying produce from Capay Farms. They deliver and reuse the box although some of the lettuce comes in plastic bags. This year our garden will be bigger which is by far the best way to reduce the plastic, trips to the store, eat healthier and give the waste back to the earth.

I cherish the delicious last bits of vegetables from the garden as we clean out the old and compost for our spring garden.

Just as we clean out the garden, and I see the lemon balm still growing, I find that there are parts of my work that are still growing and inspiring me. But much of my work looks like the wilted tomato plants after the frost. I have papers, magazines, and stuff that I haven't looked at in years (?). Time to see what ideas and information have lasted the season and clean out the old. I hate to throw things away because I might want them later.

Sometimes I do want them later, but I have so much, that I can't find things if I have them. This is the year, the month, the day to start generating fresh ideas, rejuvenate the ones I value, and let go of the rest. That is my challenge!


Living naturally for a safer environment,
- Nancy Miller

Accidental Gardener

It's an exciting new year full of possibilities. Gardening reminds me that everything in life that is thriving is also growing. Growth may be constant or may have rapid random spurts with seemingly nothing in between. Personal growth can have the same cycles as we face changes in our environment and culture. We can learn to be resilient like plants who weather hot and cold, wind and frost, and changes in soil. In nature, only the strongest plants that are suited to the environment survive. Desert Cactus can adapt to low moisture just as Bengal Bamboo grows well in rainforests.

As a career counselor in graduate school studying personality and relationship styles, I realized that the same factors that affect a person's ability to grow also affect plants in nature. Natural Strengths, Values, and Environment are the core factors that affect personality. In nature, Natural Strengths are like the seeds, Values and beliefs are like the soil and the Environmental conditions are the weather. We can nurture our personal strengths and relationships in many of the same ways we nurture and cultivate a garden.

After researching many creative analogies, I came up with the idea of four vegetables to represent four different personality styles. The idea of vegetables fit so well with the need to create more healthful lifestyles for myself and my coaching clients that I decided to develop workshops and presentations around healthy eating and healthy relationships. After spending a year developing the concept and presenting workshops for a First 5 Sacramento community grant, I began calling the presentations, Color Your Style with Vegetables™. As the workshops grew in popularity, I realized it was important to apply for a copyright, which I completed last year.

I love junk food, reading, research, and writing, so the leap toward a more healthful lifestyle required getting out of my comfort zone. Now I am taking long walks, exercising, and adding color to my plate. Now I am so conscious of color that I rarely have a bland beige meal. If I notice a lack of color, I add spinach, red bell peppers, tomatoes, or carrots. I've learned to enjoy new flavors, textures, and colors in my diet just as I learned to add flavor to my relationships.

The next step to healthful living was to start a garden. I am not a natural gardener. I consider myself more of an "accidental gardener" since I came to gardening in a roundabout way. I started out with enhancing my counseling skills through studying personality development. I learned the value of relationships and developed "Relationships by Design" workshops using the "True Colors" analogy. Now I am using the relationship design concepts combined with the garden vegetables to create a colorful vegetable analogy.

This year I will be blogging my journey through gardening for health, sustainability, career development, and relationship building. I hope you will come with me on my journey toward building a healthier more sustainable lifestyle through gardening. A greener business starts with a greener lifestyle. You are your business!

Living naturally for a safer environment,
-NJ Miller