這是悲傷療癒花園幫助一個父親走出失去愛女的傷痛的故事!
Wherever we have lived, our children have always loved playing, exploring and discovering in the garden. They also enjoyed helping me in the garden, with the planting, weeding, watering and other tasks. When we moved to a new place, we would set about planning what jobs needed doing and begin to grow a native garden and vegetable patch. The children also delighted in eating the fresh produce the veggie garden provided, and picking the flowers and herbs that we grew. When we moved to Hurstbridge, the house had been empty for over a year and the big garden needed a lot of attention. At the time we arrived, our son Andreas was only three and while he liked the garden, he was too young to help much. Our daughters, Sian aged eight and Chione aged five were on the other hand willing, energetic and capable helpers in transforming the yard. Chione especially had plenty of splendid ideas to share with me, and there was ample room for many more plants in the yard. Together we talked about our common imaginings of a thriving, fertile garden, abundant in wildlife and the joy it would give us to work on creating this and the enduring pleasure the garden would give us. The large nature strip along the main road was bare; another big section of nature strip had only three gum trees, with a long pathway running the length of the nature strip. Chione had a vision of it full of native vegetation and suggested we plant a forest there on both sides of the pathway. There was also the remains of an old, large concrete pond, which was full of logs, branches, rocks and other rubble, with bare ground around it, except for a plum tree growing near it. Chione and I envisioned a beautiful fishpond with scores of grasses and other plants growing around the pond. There was also a cubby house that needed various repair work. Chione thought that a flower garden adjacent to it would look really wonderful. We started these joint projects by setting up a vegetable garden and we planted quite a few native trees and bushes. But the dreams we shared of a wondrous, flourishing garden did not come to fulfillment, or at least not in the way we ever imagined. One day while I was at work and my wife and children were returning home from school, a careless young driver’s car left the road and hit Chione, who was walking ahead of the others. She died the next day in hospital. Our family struggled to cope and we barely continued to operate on a basic day-to-day level in between the collective and individual upheavals as we struggled to help each other through this tragedy. It was very hard to find the strength to hold us together and go on functioning amid this profound loss. I was in shock for a long time; emotionally distressed and in intense grief. I couldn’t concentrate on work or write and felt drained of energy. I just cried and cried and tried to comfort my family. I couldn’t sleep much, but spent a lot of time lying on the bed or on the couch thinking things over and over. One day while lying on the couch half asleep I distinctly heard Chione’s voice saying, “father, father, get up off the couch and do the garden.” The other children called me dad, while Chione preferred to call me father. I thought for a few minutes about what I’d heard, it sounded just like what she would say. I sat up and looked out the window at the vegetable garden for a while. Then I got up and went out and picked up the pitchfork. I walked to the vegetable patch and started to weed, an unfinished job we had started previously together. As I dug, I cried, feeling conflicting emotions, with thoughts of Chione, of doing what she would want me to do, but it also felt somehow wrong. It seemed to be betrayal, as if I were getting on with life without her. After a short time I returned to the couch, emotionally and physically exhausted. The next day I worked for a longer time: each day a little more. So it went on until I finished all the tasks Chione and I had talked about doing together. The night after I finished the garden around the cubby house, I had a dream and in it Chione said she would like some Forget-Me-Not flowers planted there. There was only one tiny area in the yard where they were growing, so the next morning I went to dig some up. I put the hand spade into the soil and dug out the flowers and there in the ground was a small unbroken, terracotta angel. It was such a wonderful discovery. It seemed so fitting and was full of exceptional significance to me – as if I were meant to find it. I put the angel on a rock in the garden with the flowers. Gardening went from being an activity that I enjoyed immensely to something that became deeply meaningful – a meditative and spiritual pursuit. Perhaps it was always so, but I never realised it. Now it was, together with the well-being of the children, the key to my continued existence. I lived to work in the earth and with plants. It saved my sanity: the tasks that Chione and I discussed and started gave me a focus, something to work towards. It was a reason to get up out of bed and face the day. It wasn’t easy especially at first: it took a great effort for me to find the strength to go on after such a devastating blow. I don’t believe you ever get over such close death, especially the death of your child. You don’t ever heal; you merely find a reason or reasons to go on and the inner strength to do it. To me the garden is a special place of solace and salvation.
(後記: 我幾乎每天都在研讀園藝治療的相關文獻，但是當我看到這篇文章時，我掉淚了!我在想，黎礎寧的父母很傷心吧! 如果我有機會遇到他們，我會送他們一盆長春藤，因為ivy是黎礎寧的英文名子，好好照顧這盆植物，灌溉它，給它營養，給它陽光! 讓它的生命延續…。我相信礎寧的父母這一輩子都不會忘記他們的寶貝女兒，我只希望他們能夠一天一天的回到正常生活!!)
(後記: 我幾乎每天都在研讀園藝治療的相關文獻，但是當我看到這篇文章時，我掉淚了!我在想，黎礎寧的父母很傷心吧! 如果我有機會遇到他們，我會送他們一盆長春藤，因為ivy是黎礎寧的英文名子，好好照顧這盆植物，灌溉它，給它營養，給它陽光! 讓它的生命延續…。我相信礎寧的父母這一輩子都不會忘記他們的寶貝女兒，我只希望他們能夠一天一天的回到正常生活!!)
以上是由高雄園藝治療師培訓中的學員:20歲年輕洋溢的蔣延生和翩翩瀟灑的壯年朗5h殷揮誠所設計, 僅運用劍山及週邊可找到的材料!當然不用說誰是誰的作品,不難分辨!!
利用劍山配合隨手可得的植物材料是一個很經濟又環保(和綠泉比起來!)的園藝治療課程，可以避開沒有空間或沒有太多經費的顧客使用。(作品為高雄園藝治療師培訓學員陳桂緣設計，植物包括薰衣草(葉)、大岩桐(葉)、及長壽花)
從2007~2008在研究中心培訓過的園藝治療師回到個自的工作崗位後,在生活及工作中是否做了改變?讓我們知道吧?高雄合掌園藝的陳錦誼園藝治療師在自己的事業中作了很大的改變,換了招牌(招牌上寫了園藝治療!),店面的佈置有了 healing 的雛型,也運用了園藝治療幫助了當地的環保團體, How about you?
藉由大自然的取景、拍照，是園藝治療可設計的課程之一，也涵蓋了遊憩療法。可以是參與者的狀況或醫生的建議，設定每週、每月、或每季一次的戶外照相，可以選不同地點也可以選同一地點但不同時間，都會有不一樣得驚奇!拍攝不同的景觀變化或植物本身的變化，可以讓人感受到生命的律動並獲得景觀治療的效果，若有好的作品也可以沖洗出來製成卡片或表框起來陳列裝飾讓生命延續。景觀攝影可以編排在以兒童培養藝術氣息、過動兒穩定情緒、青少年或青年人解除課業壓力、或老年人肢體復健及安寧療護等作為目標的課程。園藝治療師盡量以景觀或園藝作為取景對象，而硬體的實品或藝術品如建築物或公共藝術有時會產生負面的聯想，反而產生反效果。園藝治療師在課程開始前應該先安排一個小時的照相取景技術才會讓人感到興奮及有趣，且有準備好的感覺，當遇到學員中有照相高手，可讓其發揮知識與大家分享會有更好的團隊效果。當我們到一個風景優美的地方一定都會拿起相機和大自然合影，尤其現在的數位項機更是不加思索的按快門，反而忽略了取景的細節，讓我用最簡短的時間來告訴園藝治療師如何拍出好的作品。景觀的素材可分為大、小尺度，簡單來說可以拍一朵花的造型到晨曦日落景觀，這其中最大的秘訣在於光線，我們都知道當背景很亮時，前面的人拍起來都是黑木炭，日正當中時最難表現景觀的美感，利用早晨或黃昏來拍照是好方法，同時也可以讓身體弱勢的參與者不致受強光傷害(特別是老年人!)。秋天的夕陽和植物景緻的搭配、早晨的日出和霧水露珠停在植物上的搭配都會有好的效果(當然得看相機的種類!)。若陽光真的很強的午後仍要取景，則搭配雄偉美麗的建築物會好一些! 若陰天時，天空一片慘灰，這時來拍景觀照片心情一定不會好到哪，所以改拍近物就不會受到影響。拍近物時可以要求順帶得拍到小瓢蟲、蚱蜢等，有生命存在的感覺效果更好。拍近物時光項比較不是因素，但色彩變的重要，利用互補色的搭配、如黃紫、藍橘、紅綠等，但光線強時不易拍出藍色的花。有時用色系相近的搭配會很有溫暖的效果，另外別忘了其他有獨特植物器官的部位，例如花瓣、枝條、初芽等。直立的花束例如鬱金香、金魚草、風信子、一串紅等都有生命旺盛的感覺。小尺度的景觀取景要像是一幅畫作，不要有頭重腳輕之感，要一致和諧，若要拍攝都市景觀，切記一定要從植物的一端拍攝出去，背景才是建物。總之水中倒影、彩虹、表現季節變換的春芽、夏草、秋葉、冬雪都是最令人感受生命律動的意象傳達。有時候不再有生命的落花、落葉、落瓣也可以表現。如果用人物和景觀或植物互動時，作者本身或找小孩子當model都很不錯，但是人物不要看鏡頭，自然的呈現最美! 植物是一種無聲的力量(silent power)，讓藝術-自然-建築一起榮在作品中，拍出沒有建築師的建築物，沒有景觀設計師的景觀，那就是最有生命、最為自然、獨一無二的作品!
