Tending the Garden Within (Without Needing a Shovel or a Life Overhaul)B

The other day, while I was outside tugging at what can only be described as a championship-level weed (you know the kind—you pull and it pulls back), I had one of those moments where life and metaphor collide. I’d been so sure that flower bed was clear. I’d done the work. And yet, there it was—something stubborn, rooted, and surprisingly alive.

It made me think: how often do we believe we’ve “handled” something in our emotional lives, only to have it pop up again when we least expect it? A pang of grief, a spark of longing, a hope we thought we’d buried quietly in the compost heap of “maybe someday.”

June, with its long days and soft light, feels like an invitation to pause. Not to overhaul everything. Not to launch a full-scale reinvention of your life. But to check in. To tend to the inner landscape that’s quietly been growing, shifting, and—yes—occasionally sprouting weeds when we weren’t looking.

In midlife, we often think healing should come with big moves or dramatic shifts. A new career! A new relationship! A new zip code! But more often, the work of healing looks quieter. More tender. It begins with noticing what’s already alive inside of us.

That small ache you’ve ignored because there wasn’t time. That creative spark that flickers when you think no one’s watching. That dream you tucked away because you weren’t sure if it was still possible.

This is the season to bring those things into the sunlight. To water them gently with curiosity, not judgment. To pull the weeds of comparison, perfectionism, or outdated expectations—and make room for something more true.

And here’s the truth: you don’t need to be someone new. You just need to care for who you are. The version of you that’s survived so much, adapted beautifully, and is still evolving in her own messy, brilliant way.

So if you’re feeling a little off, or like something inside you is stirring but not quite ready to bloom—know that’s okay. This is the tending season. The checking-in season. The giving-yourself-permission-to-feel season.

Because healing isn’t always about becoming. Sometimes, it’s about remembering who you’ve always been—and giving her the care she’s been patiently waiting for.

And maybe… investing in a really good pair of gardening gloves. Just in case.