Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Night Gardening in the City (Premium)

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

This is a preview episode. Get the full episode, and many more, ad free, on our supporter's feed: https://getsleepy.com/support. Night Gardening in the City Tonight, we’ll join Aidan as he spends a Friday evening in his city, gardening alongside fellow locals to revitalise and create small green spaces for his community. 😴  Sound design: city ambiance 🌃 Narrator: Michelle Hotaling About Get Sleepy Premium: Help support the podcast, and get: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads) The exclusive Thursday night bonus episode Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free) Premium sleep meditations, extra-long episodes and more! We'll love you forever. ❤️ Get a 7 day free trial, and join the Get Sleepy community here https://getsleepy.com/support. And thank you so, so much.  Tom, and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more and thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. One hot summer's night. Aiden laughed his apartment to walk the city streets. It was late on a Friday evening, and the sidewalks were full of life as groups of friends chatted and laughed outside clubs and restaurants. Aiden smiled as he walked past, remembering similar nights not too long ago. He still enjoyed spending the occasional evening in this way, hopping from place to place,

catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. But now he preferred a little variation. catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. But now he preferred a little variation. He discovered that there were so many ways to enjoy the city and experience the nightlife. During the day it was too hot to go for a stroll without breaking into a sweat. But after the sun went down, it was as though the city could finally breathe. The humidity disappeared, and there is even an occasional breeze rippling through the trees. Aiden relished this drop in temperature, and the light breath of air that blew down the streets as fresh and reinvigorating as a cool drink of water. Even without a destination in mind, he always loved walking down these familiar paths.

He lived in the neighborhood for a long time and knew the area well, but a single street seemed to change a hundred times in a day. He enjoyed looking for these subtle shifts and changes, noticing how the light could transform the look of a building, or how people appeared at different times, depending on their routines. In the morning, he would often run into an elderly neighbor doing her shopping and stopped to say hello. In the evening, he would spot the same dogs being taken for a walk, a pair of Labrador's panting happily, excited to be out and about.

The city was always moving, always changing, and there were a few strands of continuity that he found reassuring. Every neighborhood was like its own little village. This was what Aiden loved about the city, the sense of familiarity and community, combined with space, movement and excitement. There were countless things to do and endless places to explore. But in the end, he could always come back to his neighborhood and feel completely at home. He felt it when he glimpsed certain faces or street signs. He sensed it even more deeply with particular smells. There is the intoxicating cloud of scent from the perfume store on the corner, and a wonderful

aroma of roasting coffee beans at the nearby cafe. Whenever he walked past, he felt welcome and at peace. Another thing he appreciated about this neighborhood was the greenery. The person from the country might see nothing more than urban sprawl, busy roads and towering apartment blocks. There were plenty of trees and small parks, often in the most unexpected places. It hadn't always been this way. On his first visit to the city many years ago, Aiden had noticed a distinct lack of green space. But gradually one by one, the plants had begun to appear.

A tree where there had one spin an empty expanse of concrete, a line of potted plants along the edge of the sidewalk. A vacant lot transformed into a park with a children's play area. These changes gave him hope. They also gave him an idea for a new hobby. He'd once heard the advice, be the change you want to see in the world. So instead of spending his evenings at the usual places, or sitting in front of the TV, he decided to get involved with the local community. Aiden wanted to help make his neighborhood a better, greener place.