When people are like gardens, then doctors are like gardeners: nourishing life & conserving wellness. Not just fixing what’s broken
In the West, the philosophies of science are based on the idea that humans are separate from nature. And that the world, just like a machine, can be dismantled and reduced into parts.
As a result, Western Medicine has focused on how the human machine works. The human body (or should I say machine) is reduced to structural parts from organs to tissues, tissues to cells and cells to molecules. And when people are like machines, doctors become like mechanics.
Just like a mechanic, the doctor will perform routine maintenance but mostly emergency repairs. Through this lens, there isn’t any emphasis on how to stay or become well. The doctor can only fixes what’s broken.
But what if we understood that we cannot be separated from nature. That we are nature- dynamic, connected, and self-regulating/healing. Within this framework- people are like gardens, and doctors are like gardeners. The gardener does not make the garden grow, nature does, but the gardener is an ally who prepares the soil, sows the seeds, waters, removes any weeds and tends to the garden. The gardener observes and nurtures the relationship between the garden and the environment.
And instead of fixing what’s broken, the gardener helps to remove any obstacles to healing and promotes growth and wellness.
Your health is so much more than your physical body: it’s your environment, your relationships, your emotions, your diet, your spirituality, your lifestyle and habits and so much more.
How do you view your health? As a machine or a garden?
