About three months ago we were walking on Carmel River State Beach toward the stairs that lead you to Scenic Drive. And we stumbled upon a Zen Garden in the sand.
A beautifully made zen garden rake from natural beach wood, it was so gorgeous and made very well, someone wrote #carmelzengarden on the rake. We started raking and just cleaning up the design that had already been started. We posted the photo’s on our Instagram account with the hashtag carmelzengarden. Looked up to see who may have started this thoughtful garden. It was a resident in Carmel by the name of Paul Deering, Landscape Architect at Deering Design I wasn’t surprised to learn he was a Landscape Architect. I love when people take it upon themselves to be so creative to start a wave, this idea is an outdoor oasis for people to connect. The raked sand bed is a classic element in a Zen garden. You rake curvy shapes in the sand to represent ripples on water. Raking patterns in the sand can be a stress-relieving and meditative practice.
His Instagram account is deeringdesignland and you can see what others created with #carmelzengarden. There is a video of a woman who I think did the impossible, she made a design with visual components they seemed to be symbolic, maybe a meaning to reflect on. Zen gardens date back to the sixth century when Buddhist monks used them to promote contemplation and meditation. I think we should all start getting our creative hats on and get to work. By the way, the rake is gone but hopefully, it will return soon.
