Ep 264 - Another Lesson from the Leaf: Help Is on the Way

What happens when life tests the very lessons we hope to live?

In this heartfelt episode, Mary Stone shares an emotionally difficult week that almost preempted the weekly chat. She invites listeners onto her screened porch, where a summer thunderstorm replaces the noisy cicadas, setting the stage for a conversation about acceptance, resilience, and hope. 

Inspired by a recent Call to Calm meditation with Panache Desai, Mary reflects on the image of a single leaf surrendering to the wind and explores how embracing our emotions—rather than resisting them—can help us find peace.

Mary also shares an update on her book, The Lesson of the Leaf, and why one closed door has become the beginning of a new path. 

Along the way, she revisits a favorite summertime story about the Dog Days of Summer and the curious origins of the phrase "sweating like a pig," bringing a few laughs to a humid August afternoon.

The episode closes with a heartfelt reflection on the love we share with our dogs, the pieces of our hearts they carry, and the reassurance that, even during life's hardest seasons, help is on the way.

Enjoy the Companion Post: Another Lesson from the Leaf: Help Is on the Way

🌿 Related Links

If you enjoyed today's reflection, you'll also enjoy my earlier Episode 234 Stillness Teaches Growth Through Nature, where winter's quiet offers another reminder that growth often begins when nothing appears to be happening.

Episode 263: Doing Nothing Is Everything: Wisdom from Nature & Gardens

Episode 69: The Origin of the Dog Days of Summer - (including the stories behind "Dog Days" and "Sweating Like a Pig") 

Blog: The Origin of the Dog Days of Summer 

Other helpful links: 

Panache Desai free Call to Calm Meditations

Connect with Mary Stone
Visit: AskMaryStone.com
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone@gmail.com 

Thank you for listening and for sharing the Garden of Life.🌻

More about the Podcast and Column:

 Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

 It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone 
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 264 -Another Lesson from the Leaf - Help Is on the Way

Sat, Aug 08, 2026 5:48PM • 12:20

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Garden Dilemmas, nature inspirations, emotional struggles, acceptance, Mother Nature, book proposal, Hay House, personal growth, wisdom of nature, emotional acceptance, life lessons, garden of life, dog days of summer, sweating like a pig, Jolie's adoption.

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:23

Hello there, it's Mary Stone on a rainy screen porch. I have to laugh because I came out earlier, and the cicadas were so loud that I had to abandon our chat. And then this thunderstorm came through, and it's moving out now. So, we will probably hear a little bit of thunder rolling in the background, and I hope you don't mind the pitter patter of these raindrops dancing on the roof of the screen porch. Welcome, welcome. 

Mary Stone  00:53

I want to thank those that reach back after our last chat, doing nothing and everything. Wisdom from nature and gardens. Your kind words meant more than you know. I actually listened to the episode myself before sitting down with you today. Truthfully, I needed a reminder. I almost didn't sit down with you today, which is part of this week's story, and it starts like this: 

Mary Stone  01:18

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, life has a way of testing the very things we've grown to learn and believe. This week brought another hurdle in the chapter of my life that I thought was finding its way towards a peaceful ending. Instead, it took another troubling turn. It derailed me, frankly, in terms of the excessive time to prepare the information I had to give my attorney, and the emotional aspects of it that I struggle with, which contradicts some of the wisdom I've shared with you, doesn't it? I struggled rather than letting go and allowing, going with the flow while doing my part, of course, in gathering information. I won't go into the details because they aren't really important. What is important is that, even when we know better, when we trust the perfect unfolding of life, our hearts still hurt. We feel sadness or disappointment. Sometimes we even wonder how someone we've shared life with well over a decade can seem like a stranger. Perhaps you've experienced something like that too. 

Mary Stone  02:28

One thing I've learned is that our emotions aren't the problem; they're part of being human. The trouble begins when we think we shouldn't have them, or when we resist what is happening, or become exhausted trying to fix or change something beyond our control. When that happens, I do what many of you do probably, I call a dear friend, or wander into the garden, perhaps tending to a few weeds, weeding the undesirables, I like to say, and it helps. And then I walk amongst the trees and restore my soul, remembering that Mother Nature has been practicing acceptance far longer than we have. 

Mary Stone  03:10

Earlier this week, I listened to Panache Desai during one of his morning meditations called "Call to Calm." An image he shared brought a smile-a single leaf floating wherever the wind carried it. It wasn't struggling. It wasn't trying to direct its own path. It surrendered to something larger than itself, just like a leaf in the water. My brother Bill's lesson of the leaf. The title of my book underway. That image kept returning to me because, to be honest, I've been trying too hard lately. Trying to make sense of things, trying to understand someone's actions, trying to make something so painful feel less so. Maybe that's where so much of our suffering begins. Not because we have feelings or emotions, but because we keep trying to make reality something other than what it is. It is what it is they say.

Mary Stone  04:10

 Acceptance isn't giving up; it allows us to stop wrestling with what we cannot change, so we have the strength to tend to what we can. That doesn't mean we don't have feelings. We are human, after all. But embracing our emotions, allowing them to come through us instead of dragging us down, it frees our hearts. Although I have a day here and there where I get really dragged down by the hurt and the sadness. How about you, kind listeners? I bet you have those days too. Panache reminded us that we are meant to feel them honestly: sadness, disappointment, loneliness, or fear.

Mary Stone  04:54

That thunder rolling kind of seems timely when I talk about fear. We allow them to move through us instead of pretending they aren't there, and then I remember something else he said that touched my heart deeply. Help is on its way. Think about the tough transitions in your life and how things work out. Help arrives. God provides, or source, or higher power, if you prefer. Maybe the help comes where we least expect it, and maybe it's not in our timetable. But we are never as alone as we think we are. That thought brings me great comfort, and I hope it does for you too. 

Mary Stone  05:36

It makes me think of the phrase "rest in peace" we usually say for someone who has died, but I believe all of us wish to rest in peace while we're here on this dear earth. Maybe world peace feels beyond our reach. We can't control what happens across the globe, or even sometimes across our own dinner table. But peace in our own hearts, peace in our homes, peace in our neighborhoods; those are places where we can begin. 

Mary Stone  06:06

And speaking of leaves letting go, another one floated away this week. Hay House decided not to move forward with my book proposal. Of course, I felt disappointed, but after sitting with it for a while, I realized something, the lessons we've been discovering these past months don't depend upon one publisher saying yes. 

Mary Stone  06:28

Since submitting the proposal in June, we've talked about finding a sense of belonging, which is the next step beyond overcoming loneliness. That was a wake-up call for me. We talked about the wisdom of crooked trees, and seeking treasures in others' gardens, the mysteries of missing roots and what lies beneath the surface, and how, when doing nothing, something deeper can happen, and carrying life forward, even when we don't know where the path leads. Those conversations have become part of the book, so rather than seeing this as an ending, I think it's another beginning. It's time to publish it myself. The book has continued growing because of you, because of our conversations we've shared each week, and I'm so grateful. Together, we are learning and growing in this garden of life. Garden dilemmas. AskMaryStone.com. 

Mary Stone  07:29

As I'm sitting here talking with you, I'm beginning to sweat like a pig, which is kind of bringing a laugh because I'm thinking about a story we shared long ago in episode 69, the origin of the dog days of summer and sweating like a pig. I'll put a link in the show notes. But perhaps we have a little time for a throwback. Dogs pant heavily to cool themselves as they only have a few sweat glands on the pads of their feet. Maybe their heavy panting is what earned the name Dog Days. But it turns out it has to do with the stars during the peak of the summer. The sun and Sirius, the brightest stars we see on Earth, are in the same area, and Sirius is in the Canis Major constellation, meaning the Greater Dog. Hence, Sirius, which means scorching or glowing in Greek, is referred to as the Dog Star. 

Mary Stone  08:22

Where does sweating like a pig originate? Like dogs, pigs have only a few sweat glands that aren't very useful in managing their body temperature, so Wilbur wallows in the mud to cool off. The adage "sweating like a pig" comes from melting pig iron, a crude iron that sweats when it cools, the pig iron was named because it's shaped into molds that look like suckling piglets. So, there you go. I adore old-time sayings. My mom did too. It makes me think of her. There's a lot more in that episode, so I'm going to put a link in the show notes. I hope you tune into it. 

Mary Stone  08:58

But this is the part I really wanted to share. In the blog version of the story, I have a photo of Jolie sitting by the screen porch door, next to a plaque given to me when Miss Ellie Mae passed away. It reads, "It came to me that every time I lose a dog, they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all of the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and as loving as they are. And apparently, it's anonymous because that's what ends that poem. Isn't it beautiful? 

Mary Stone  09:44

And that's how love works. We leave pieces of ourselves with one another. Some relationships remain forever. Others are meant for a season, and when they're gone, they are still very much part of our lives and our memories. The tapestry of our garden of life. Some, like leaves, linger for many seasons, but eventually drift downstream. And while they may catch beneath a rock for a while before continuing on, eventually the current carries them where they need to go. 

Mary Stone  10:18

I think we are all like a leaf, not giving up, not drifting without purpose, but trusting that there is a greater current carrying us, even when we cannot yet see where it leads. It seems fitting to share this with you today. According to Jolie's adoption papers, she's going to be about six years old later this month, whether that's her actual birthday, august 18, or somebody's guess, I happily celebrate it. Thank God for her in my life, my faithful companion. Dog is God, spelled backwards. Help is on its way, and as it turns out, it was. 

Mary Stone  11:03

Thank you, my dear listeners, for allowing me to share my heart today. Our time together has lifted me, and I hope my sharing helps you too. I love hearing about your garden and nature stories, so keep them coming by emailing me at askmarystone@gmail.com or through the social links. Until next time, keep listening to the wisdom of nature, keep tending to your garden of life, tending to yourself, and above all, keep growing. I hope you didn't mind all the raindrops and the thunder rolling through. Certainly, it is different, and maybe next time it'll be a little cooler and drier, so I won't be sweating like a pig. See you next time on this green porch. Have a beautiful day. 

Mary Stone  11:49

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at gardendilemmas.com, and on Instagram at hashtag MaryElaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas: Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.