Grasse

The Healing Garden.  Rosessences!

 During my last journey, I felt the need to experience being on my own and to contemplate on what my life was leading me to. I have visited Francois and Helena's farm in Grasse, in the South of France a few times before, but this time I knew it would be different. Lo and behold! My friends have transformed their eco-farm into a beautiful rose garden, complete with a distilling plant to extract the oils from the delicate petals of the flowers.

It was harvest time for the farm. So I jumped right in, and helped out in plucking roses from the bushes.  Well, it was quite an experience not knowing exactly what I would get myself into. Back bent and my hands full, I managed to pluck the flowers everyday for several days. I allowed the images to speak to me and this is how it went.

At that time, I was nursing a heavy heart. As the days passed, I noticed how immersing myself with the beauty of nature and the rose essences have opened my heart and allowed me to feel more joy and happiness in my life. For a while there, I thought I was simply in denial of my feelings. But as the days grew longer, I knew then that my heart was ready to love my innermost self and accept the life I now had to live.

The time in the farm went by slowly. I guess it was all I needed to mend the brokenness. I soon realized that after going through the major battles of my life, I felt an ocean of love was pouring through me like gentle waves on a warm sunny day.

With this, I have the deepest gratitude to the Lord for allowing me the freedom to get back to myself and to my life’s journey. Sometimes, we need the quiet moments like these to be away in silent contemplation and just be in tune with our Almighty Father, either back in nature or alone to ourselves.

"Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

 is too small for you."

-David Whyte