Small Town Flower Farm Accidentally Pulls People Out of Depression
By Heather Callaghan, Editor
The amount of time Americans spend in isolation and indoors is no laughing matter. The rise of technological captivation has kept people plugged into the wrong source.
Instead of engaging with the world and reconnecting with nature, it’s so easy to remain steeped in depression with all your Facebook friends none-the-wiser.
George and Gail Africa have owned their 5-acre flower farm in Vermont for 10 years now. But even before they began selling all manner of flowers – and blueberry bushes – at their shop, Route 2, they unwittingly helped people when their flower farm was based at their home.
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Photo (c) Michelle Gibson, The Africas
In a submission to a Reader’s Digest contest, the contestant writes:
Without getting into too much detail, my severe depression began to act up again and the Africas noticed. They slowly but deliberately took me under their wing so they could try to pull me out of it and get me the help I needed. The flower farm, along with George and Gail, soon became my saving grace as they have for many others over the past years. They and the farm not only pulled me from my depression after a long, hard journey, but also they and the farm literally saved my life.
A similar situation happened to a now-mutual friend of ours. This friend was going through a bout of depression, but noticed that when she would visit the flower farm, pull some weeds, and plant some flowers, her mood would lift.
She and I used the flower farm as a “therapy” tool at the suggestion of George and Gail.
“For the past couple of years, we have both become better people thanks to George, Gail and the flower farm,” the writer said. She says that thousands of customers flock to the place each year – not to purchase bundles of pretty flowers – but simply to relax and bask in the place with its two kind owners.
More and more, people are discovering gardening, farming and other nature-related time as a way to soothe depression and PTSD. I know that for me, walking in a public park in the mornings got me through one of the worst times of grief in my entire life.
So maybe you don’t have a local flower farm to browse through. But perhaps there is a botanical garden or meadow to relax in. A park to walk through or a way to change your yard into a zen-like setting. Even cleaning indoors is a form of “therapy” for its meditative quality!
This article (Small Town Flower Farm Accidentally Pulls People Out of Depression) appeared first at Natural Blaze. It can be reshared with attribution but MUST include link to homepage, bio, intact links and this message. Image: Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
Heather Callaghan is an independent researcher, writer, speaker and food freedom activist. She is the Editor and co-founder of NaturalBlaze as well as a certified Self-Referencing IITM Practitioner.
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