The People News, a free newspaper serving Cleveland Tennessee (TN) and Bradley County Tennessee (Tn).





Of Bradley County Tn.


MAY  2005

                            The People News, a free newspaper serving Cleveland and Bradley County Tn.

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REALM OF REALITY

HOW TO GROW THE PERFECT GARDEN

by Toneeke Henderson

The world is so much more beautiful when you have a garden. How to grow  the perfect garden isn't really a secret it is simply knowing when to plant the  seeds.

For all of you who read these stories, (written by those of us who seem to challenge the deadlines for the pressure of squeezing out that greatest  detail at 3:30 in the morning) You will find that metaphoric flare to what ever  it is I am about to tell you.

No, I haven't had any java or a real vacation in a couple of years.  However I have planted a garden, year after year after year. Why does one put so  much effort into their gardens is beyond all reason at  times.


Bearing the fruits of labor is a satisfying feeling when you know through trial and error, you have  found what grows best for each section according to the light that it receives.  Water helps as well.

You can sit on a mid-summer's eve and watch the fireflies all a glow, the  dragonflies as they dance their songs of grace and steady flight. The frogs that sing lullabies to the crickets and resting fowl in the  trees.

The cats purr while straddled on the stump nearby. A hush within the air allows the orchestrated melody of the moon's beams to dance across the

Toneeke Henderson

sky shining on the twinkling stars ever so far. This is only a part of the grandeur that comes from planting a garden and reaping the beauty it  beholds.

I asked myself not long ago what was it that was missing out of my  garden. I realized how many years have gone by planting my business and watching it grow. I am thankful for all the awesome people who make it possible to be a  business owner, for often we have to survive the bullies who try to mow down  someone else's garden because they faulted at their  own.

I have succeeded because I chose to have that inspiration and belief in growth, planted by myself through my soul. In every success there is a time that  one must also remember to give back to the Heavens and the Earth something in  return.

So I paint and I sculpt the very essence that I breathe. My

Spirit Bowls so sacred they are hard to find when sold. The Spiritual  Photography that I so love being chosen by the heavens to capture and show. My  paintings once so detailed that they resembled photographs now mute

together to be free from constrained form. My sculptures mostly all life size filling voids  that I may have wanted to fill  myself.

What I thought others wanted to see from my work was not who I truly am.  I have always loved detailed work because it was a surprise to myself that anyone could ever paint so fine. What I had kept locked away inside of this earthly body, was a very simple artist who wanted to plant just the right  flowers in the right places.

But in reality there are no real "right places" for if all art were kept in the form of reality, where would our scientists be? I have decided that having a business is a great and wonderful thing. I have had my own business since I  can remember ever working, even during the short 3 years that I worked a "real  time job" for someone else.

I have decided to alter my very busy schedule into a more open and needed  place in my garden. I am going to go full throttle with my art career and where  ever it plants me I can surely only blossom from the seeds that have been planted for years in a row.  My husband will  retire in a couple of years and I will need to have my flowers in a row.

The things we are planning ahead will take me far beyond my garden's crisp  edge. I almost can't wait. As it will be like waiting for the first tulips and  daffodils to bloom in spring. These new moments in my life will be like bearing my fruits of labor in the most divine of  ways.

I will still have my business. I will  still be there for all those who have shared their spiritual moments and  encounters with me, in the purple building along with all the free  smiles.

Just like when we have our children, they are the fruits of labor as well, in a couple of ways. The statement of the title of this column and this article held true. "The Realm of Reality" a place that only a few of us will ever know. "How To Grow The Perfect Garden."  If perfect ever existed I wouldn't want  to know.

This will be my chance to finally say - that when you say come hell or high water you better know when to swim. I can only laugh for I find there is only the ocean like my world an endless canvas of aura filled glow, encouraging this soul to dance naked under the moonlight and to never ever let go. I will sum this up with a simple thought.

I come from a garden not yet known, a place someday we all will call home. When picking our place in the sun, we must be durable for what we reap when we are done. Life gives us dreams and many are put on hold, and by the time you reach them you are too darn old.

The mysteries of life all exist to the soul, too many people seem to never understand, the secret to a perfect garden can never be told for it lies with in them, if they truly wanted to  know.

Seek your dreams, be your thoughts, contemplate life and grasp it again,  sing out loud as far as you can, be inspired to say, I Will, I Can. And most  important beyond all things is feel the freedom to be yourself, you have your own brain, and always, wear galoshes when dancing naked under the moon in the  rain.
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