Heaven has a Garden, right?

Over the years there have been numerous studies in sports as to whether or not playing a game at home versus away changes performance. Every time the results come back proving that home field advantage helps improve your game. I believe this is partly due to the comfort factor. The pitch you are playing on looks familiar and you always know if there is a bad part of the field. The majority of the crowd is cheering for your side to win. This cheer provides stability for the home team and something a player can always count on. In a sense, your home field is like an island of comfort, a place where you feel home and expect to play your best.

Just recently I finished reading A Question of Power, by Bessie Head. In the novel I noticed that the garden, in which the main character Elizabeth works in, is like a stadium for her. It provides a place of comfort and stability in her life, both of which she has most certainly needed. Elizabeth begins to have her own responsibilities in the garden as she is in charge of the carrots, tomatoes, and onions. At one point she became so proud of her jam she was making called Cape Gooseberry, she sent out a letter informing the people of the village about it. Most of the woman had to make a trip past Elizabeth’s house in order to get firewood, and if she was in her garden out front, they would all stop and talk to her.

Eventually, the news became so abundant, Elizabeth earn her own nickname. “If they saw her in the yard, they stopped, laughed and said:  ‘Cape Gooseberry’, to show how well they had picked up the propaganda. They did it so often that eventually Elizabeth became known as ‘Cape Gooseberrry’.” (p.153) The woman walking by calling to Elizabeth presents her with a sense of connectivity to the community. She belongs, and the people appreciate what she does. These woman or a resemblance of the fans in crowd. Those are the fans that yell and encourage and root you on to victory. These are the women who provide the daily interaction of belongingness.

Elizabeth has been dealing with demons in head, specifically Medusa. The worst one of all. However, while she is in the garden she seems at peace. I believe it is because she is in her place happiness. While she is tending the garden, she thinks of nothing but what she is doing. Her mind does not wonder off which prevents her with having to deal with her demons. When in the garden, Elizabeth is in her Zone.

Being in the zone for me, is being on the soccer pitch. It is the most beautiful place in the world, and yet it is not home. It the place I long to be at, and the atmosphere I wish I could always be in. When I am playing soccer, I think of nothing at all, except of course soccer. I do not think about a test that I have tomorrow, I do not think about the fight I just had with a friend. It is my garden, the place where I let my spirit grow.Not my religious spirit, my spirit to enjoy life and pursue happiness. There is nothing I can compare my feelings to as when I am on the pitch playing the beautiful game. Even if the worst of weather was pounding down on me, I couldn't be happier.

I would assume this is how Elizabeth feels as well while she is in the garden tending to her plants. Her nickname after all is a plant, which couldn’t define her love more. I relate to Elizabeth in this way. I don’t know any demons named Medusa, however I’m sure if I did I would be playing soccer even more than I do already.

My nickname is not as great hers, but if someone who knows me mentions my name, I bet you the next thing said is, “oh ya doesn’t he play soccer.”  Elizabeth’s garden is my soccer field, neither of us could ask for a happier place in life even if it isn’t in the best condition.