When the Click Happened: The Garden of Her Mind

She began therapy with a heaviness in her tone.

“I’m always tired,” she said. “Not physically but mentally. Like my mind never stops. I’m constantly managing something my thoughts, my reactions, my expectations. It feels like I’m never enough, no matter how much I try.”

Week after week, she shared stories of striving of being highly capable yet emotionally drained. She was her own harshest critic, fixing flaws before anyone else could see them, anticipating every misstep.

One day, after she finished narrating yet another loop of self-pressure, I gently asked: “If your mind were a garden, what would it need not to look perfect, but to truly thrive?”

She paused.

Then slowly, almost surprised by her own words, she said: “It would need more sunlight. Some stillness. And... less cutting back.”

That was the click.

In that moment, she realised she’d spent so much time pruning and managing herself, she hadn’t learned how to nurture herself.

From there, things began to shift. She allowed more softness into her routines pausing to breathe, to notice, to enjoy. She stopped rushing to fix every flaw and started tending to her emotions with warmth.

She planted new practices: journaling for joy, not just reflection. Resting without guilt. Saying no without apology.

It wasn’t instant. But her soil softened. The roots deepened. And one day, she said, “I think I’m growing. It’s slow. But I feel it.”

Because healing didn’t come from controlling the garden. It came from trusting it. Watering what was there. Letting it bloom in its own time.

What would your mind need, if it were a garden? Are you nurturing or just managing?