by 
In the previous newsletters we talked about Garden Care Technology. The definition of technology itself is multifaceted, since it is determined by the scope of its application, but the main components are the same.
Technology from the ancient Greek “τέχνη” means “art, skill, way” and “λόγος” means “word; explanation, reason, ground, formula” is a set of methods and tools for achieving the desired result; in a broad sense – the application of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems. *
In UNESCO documents, learning technology is considered as a systemic method of creating, applying and defining an entire educational process of teaching and learning, considering the interaction of technical and human resources. *
In our case, Garden Care Technology is the Technology of Conscious Creativity, which includes 5 key foundations united with our spheres of communication. The principles of Conscious Creativity support them. Systemic Thinking skills help us use this technology, supported by a set of Gardening tools.
Let’s imagine the process of caring for our Garden as a Unique Garden Care Map. Everything that the process map contains is a synthesis of the properties, principles of life activity, the skills of systemic thinking, and the principles of Conscious Creativity, which are described in more detail in these resources. *
However, our task is to provide practices that help care and develop our own Garden by using resources that we have more effectively, including time and energy that we invest in our daily activities. So, this is why we are focused on the practical Conscious Creativity Resources of Garden Care Technology.
Like always in our practices, the best place will be closer to Nature or indoors with the sounds of Nature supporting an atmosphere of creativity and there are important conditions:
- no competition: “who is faster or who creates a better box”
- no hints or instructions like: “look to the right, then to the left”
- all sources of color are based on the colors of Nature.
- also, colored pencils or paints are better than markers because they can create different colorful shades.
The time for this practice is 45 minutes and more :). White A4 paper, pens and colored pencils are needed. All adults can participate. As with all practices, all that you will see below came from the practice. Happy to share it with you! Welcome!
Olga and Conscious Creativity Team 🙂
Practice ” Unique Garden Care Map”
The task of this practice: to create one’s own unique technological map of caring and developing our own Garden. This map unites our vision and resources with Conscious Creativity Technology including “Seven Happy Habits”. These Happy Habits are also based on unity, where each of them supports the others.
Let’s go step-by-step: 1 step. Create the basis of one’s own unique map. | 2 step. Get to know the Seven Happy Habits. | 3 step. Unite the Happy Habits with notices on the map. | 4 step. Unite the map with one’s own activities and diary notices. This map example will help.
Unique Garden Care Map
1 step. Create the basis of one’s own unique map
Take white page A4 and create a map surface. Colored pencils will help to create brighter what is important for you brighter.
2 step. Get to know the Seven Happy Habits
- Positivism and gratitude
We can always see the world as multi-colored, even on a gray rainy day. The habit-forming question is, “What am I feeling now? How can I find the best colors in a gray situation?” Choose for yourself the best feelings: Feeling -Thinking – Action – Result. Gratitude supports us. How do we feel when we ask ourselves: “What can I be grateful for in my life? What can I be grateful for right now?” And give yourself time to feel the answer with your heart . . .
- Self-management and dignity
I can’t change the situation that others have created. I can only change my attitude and my actions. The habit-forming question is, “How do I feel? What do I need to do to keep balance and peace in my heart? What do I need to do to maintain a peaceful space for communication?” We can be supported by our virtue. If we are aware of our dignity, we do not need to prove it to others. When we are aware of our dignity, we will see it in others, and we will respect it in every person. Just ask the question every day: “What am I proud of myself today?”
- Proactive and resourceful thinking
Knowledge must always be acted upon. I do the best I can do. Remember, actions always speak louder than words. The habit-forming question is: “How can I do it better? What resources do I have, and how can I use them?” Even if the answer is “Nothing!” This is also a resource. . . We can always ask someone to find what we need to know. . . If we ask questions, we will always find an answer.
- Self-improvement and creativity
Everything can always be improved. If we don’t like something, we can improve it. Nature is constantly developing and creatively changing. The law of evolution also operates in all spheres of our life. To create the best, we need to learn how to create. This is why creativity is very important. Find the best and turn it into a habit . . . The question to form this habit is: “What should I add to my best life?”
- Balance and self-regulation
If you have too many sentences in your life that begin with “I must”, think about how you can replace “I must” with “I want.” For example. “I must clean up my home.” Instead, consider . . . “I want a clean home.” If we feel tired or irritated, it means that the balance in our lives has been disturbed. We can always restore our balance by asking: “What do I want?” And give ourselves the space and time to listen to what our heart is saying.
- Openness and ability to listen to other people
These are your communication skills and the ability to understand people. It is also the ability to see and support opportunities for ourselves and for other people. We cannot see the world in its entirety through the keyhole of a door. . . By only looking through a keyhole, you will never be successful and happy. We live among people, and everything that we do is an interaction with them. If we are interested in people and their lives, they will be interested in us. . . To “get”, we must first “give”. . . The habit-forming question is: “What did I learn about someone today, their situation, their life, and their dreams? “
- Dreams and faith in oneself
Dreams are the navigators of our life because they support aspiration. When we know what we want, it’s much easier to find our way. When it’s dark – find stars. . . Our dreams help us see the stars. A dream helps us to prioritize. If we have a dream, we can see the dreams of others. It’s easier for people to understand us if they know what we want. People are attracted to those who know where they are going. . . People value those who value their dreams. The habit-forming question is: “What is my dream? What did I do today for my dream? How did I support the dreams of other people?”
3 step. Unite the Happy Habits with notices on the map
The map in step 1, and the knowledge in step 2, will help us to create a pathway to improve our Garden. This will be a Unique Garden Care Map. The practices from previous newsletters will help.
For example, I can write in the map cells:
- Heart, Consent – I and You: gratitude to family (the practice #7 “Flower-Our Wishes To Each Other” or #8 “Magic Box”)
- Beauty, Harmony – I and I: go next weekend to Botanic Garden and organize an indoor plant area (the practice #2 “Colorful World” or #3 “Garden of Beauty”)
- Work, Collaboration – I and You: improve collaboration with colleagues (the practice #1 “Creating Together” or #5 “Shining Stars”)
- Evolution, Improving – I and World: use water more effectively in-home activity (the practice #6 “Our Wishes to Earth”)
- Aspiration, Accordance – World in Me: organize additional education for self-development through books and courses (the practice #3 “Garden of Beauty”)
These are only some examples. We create Unique Garden Care Map with what is important for each of us. It is not necessary for all cells on this map to be full and made in one sitting. We can go back to this map at any time and clarify our own way for Garden care improvement. What is most important is that we create activities in the cells that we do, and not just “talk about it” 🙂
“Why don’t we have a full example?” you may ask. Yes. It takes time. But it is our unique Garden, and this map will always be unique where each of us is a unique Gardener. And as all in Nature, we grow from inside, from each Gardener and Garden.
And “Can I invite children to this practice?” you may also ask. Well, even though the map creation process is simple, it will be complicated for 3+ participants 🙂 And also all practices in previous newsletters are based on the Garden Care Technology Map supporting all aged participants through creativity activity. There are Key foundations:
- Heart – Consent – to choose and develop the best feelings
- Beauty – Harmony – to see Beauty in unity with Nature
- Work – Collaboration – to organize one’s own activity
- Evolution – Improving – to develop what we create
- Aspiration – Accordance – to see the direction of development
This map helps to organize our activity in our work and family including organizing practice activities with children. We will continue these creativity activities for all ages with fairy tales, quests, and creativity practices that you will meet in new newsletters.
Step 4. Unite the map with one’s own activities and diary notices
Unite the Unique Garden Care Map with the 7 Happy Habits and see what can be useful in daily activity by: take a diary | make a daily Garden care plan based on the map | summarize the day’s results with simple daily notices | and organize your next day.
The unique Garden Care Technology Map and the 7 Happy Habits questions, united with other Conscious Creativity Resources, support the daily notices. Let’s summarize them.
7 Happy Habits
- Positivism and gratitude. What am I feeling now? How can I find the best colors in a gray situation? What can I be grateful for in my life? What can I be grateful for right now?”
- Self-management and dignity. How do I feel? What do I need to do to keep balance and peace in my heart? What do I need to do to maintain a peaceful space for communication? What am I proud of myself today?
- Proactive and resourceful thinking. | How can I do it better? What resources do I have, and how can I use them?
- Self-improvement and creativity. | What should I add to my best life?
- Balance and self-regulation. | What do I want?
- Openness and ability to listen to other people. | What did I learn about someone today, their situation, their life, and their dreams?
- Dreams and faith in yourself. | What is my dream? What did I do today for my dream? How did I support the dreams of other people? As a Garden our Unique map is also a system. We create this system ourselves.
System properties and Key questions of Systemic Thinking will help:
- “Why?” – Advisability – Why do I need it?
- “What?” – Sustainability – What, of what I have now, will help me improve what I have now?
- “Who?” – Improvement – Who is the participant in this process and takes responsibility for the choice and decision?
- “How?” – Flexibility – How can I use the resources and skills that I have, and how can I improve them When we summarize each day, investing some minutes to clarify our Garden care, we support the Tree of Consciousness that grows in our Garden.
The Principles of Conscious Creativity support caring for our Garden:
- Freedom of Choice through Responsibility
- Independence through Unity
- Tolerance through Respect
- Activity through Improvement
This is our Conscious Creativity 🙂
Value of the practice
This practice supports our Harmonious Life by:
- developing a proactive position to harmonize our inner world based on Systemic Thinking skills
- using resources that we have more effectively
- improving skills of resilience and flexibility in Unity with Nature
- supporting a harmonious environment from our Garden.
Our happier world starts with each of us, and it is an amazing World that we create ourselves. By supporting our Garden, we share harmony with each other and create such a World, because we can only share what we have.
“Well, it sounds good, but I don’t have the time. It is too complicated and too. . .” you might say. I said these words to myself with many others “too . . .” many times :). Yes, we all have many different activities that demand our time. However, our Garden was, is, and always will be OUR GARDEN. When I remember how beautiful my Garden is, then something magic comes in, and the time and opportunity appears . . . just because I started to see 🙂 And also when we see Beauty in ourselves, we see Beauty in others.
From practice. Autumn. Early morning. Cold and damp. Monday. My throat was sore. I went out onto the porch, as usual, started to talk, and stopped. I stood on the porch and smiled looking into 500 students’ team eyes. They were all so different with their own unique fates. I pointed to my throat and quietly said, “Looks like today we can’t talk too much!” And then, one by one, they stepped forward. They wanted to be closer. Why? Because each time they heard about the best they had and then how we could improve it together. We did together a lot! And “a lot” each of us has “to do” in our own Garden because our Life is a continuing process of improvement. I keep this story in my heart and continue to work on my Garden 🙂
We can always find the best that we have today and improve it. This Garden is the greatest value that we have. When we see this value, we will see the value of Garden care and see the value of each other.
The Garden Care Map helps in different spheres of activities such as creation of educational programs, developing management, and many other important spheres of activities what everyone of us has. But the first is our unity with Creativity in Life. We are people and we create.
And one more 😊
8th Happy Habit 🙂 Each Day is a New Day!
On this day, we can take the best that we have from the past and make the next step to a Harmonious Life. It is like a white page where each of us creates our own life picture.
Each day we can always say: “Each day is my New Day!”
“Since then, beautiful paintings have begun to appear on her sheets. Paper is very proud of them, considering them now not just spots, but real and amazing paintings. What is portrayed on them? The World! In these paintings, Beauty of our World shines in different colors. Which Beauty? Beauty that is always close. . . . Look around! Beauty of our World reminds us of itself! How? From colors. . . .” (“Happy Home Fairy Tales”)
(from the book “Conscious Creativity Technology for a Harmonious Life” ISBN 978-1-963690-74-3 by Olga Verasen)
Resources* https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/philologic4/Greek/query?report=concordance&method=phrase&q=lemma:%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%82&start=0&end=0&author= | https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CF%84%CE%AD%CF%87%CE%BD%CE%B7 | https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%82 | https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/six-priorities | https://olgaverasen.com/conscious-creativity/
More resources for you https://olgaverasen.com/articles-and-practices/
Leave a Reply