I've come to associate a carefree state of mind with taking my hair down, and wild loose hair with gardening, and gardening with a connection to nature, and a connection to nature with a carefree state of mind. It is pretty much a never-ending cycle of awesome.
Wild, loose, and carefree. Watch out for those leaves, they'll getcha.
I spend most of the workday with my hair up in a bun, because let's face it, when you work in a fast-paced lab with hair down past your butt (or as I like to call it, "thumb length"), there is a very real risk of catching fire every time you pass a bunsen burner. And it is not that fun to take home a wide variety of chemical residues or lab bacteria/spores after your tresses have brushed a surface. I also typically have to keep it up on the packed-like-sardines train ride home, to avoid getting it caught in someone's luggage clasp or picking up lice or who knows what else from the cloth seats.
Anyway, the first thing I do when I get home is breathe a sigh of relief and let my hair down. It has ended up being symbolic of the release of the pent-up stresses and irritations of the day, and an entry into my safe zone where I can fully relax.
I practically always garden with my hair down, simply because gardening is a relaxing and enjoyable activity, and having my hair down is relaxing and enjoyable. The same is true for reading, blogging, hiking, snuggling, and playing.
When I was young, I was quite the tomboy and would spend hours exploring nature on my parents' property (growing up in the country has its perks!). And when I say exploring, I mean rolling around on the ground looking at bugs, climbing trees, painting my entire body with mud, fashioning burrows out of dry matted weeds, and pretending to be more than 1/64th Native American.
I was kind of oblivious to fashion and grooming at these times. As a result, other kids nearby teased me about having leaves in my hair, and frequently asked if I was Pocahontas, and I didn't get the joke. Heck yeah, I totally wanted to be Pocahontas. I wore the leaves as a badge of honor.
Leaves! Hair! The best of both worlds.
2 decades later, my husband and I moved into a house together, with our first real garden. We quickly realized that every time I would come in from the garden, he would have me hold still so that he could pick all the leaves out of my hair. The deeper I got into the gardening, the more that I forgot my surroundings and focused on nurturing the plants and soil in a zen-like state, the more leaves would be found.
So to me, finding leaves in my hair represents losing myself to the joy of exploring nature and learning to garden. Which is what this blog is all about.
May you always find leaves in your hair.
