Chatting about gardening, a woman once told me she doesn't like going outdoors. "There are Things out there eating each other," she said. I think that is true figuratively and literally for man and beast.
I try to keep my thoughts and desires in perspective. How do I deal with so much comfort and beauty when the man who lives in a cardboard crate, seeking help for his abscessed foot, is told to soak it three times a day in warm soap and water, but has no soap and no water, much less a pan or bucket to soak it in.
In our world plagued with chaos and inhumanity, how can the psyche of sensitive people keep an equilibrium while feeling so fortunate and privileged, but shadowed by guilt for being so. For me, gardening is: an effort to bring order to a small corner of the chaos; harmony to express gentleness to offset cruelty; and beauty to soothe the hurt.
John Adams once wrote to his wife: "I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natureal History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine." *
Beneficiary of that legacy, I am a dreamer.
Woe to this miserable dreamer for within are trapped:
An architect of dreams who has no spatial ability.
An artist with no talent for drawing, sculpting, or painting.
A song swelling in my heart, but no singing voice to let it loose to fly free.
A poet within me - with no ability to write poetry.
Frustrated, I notice I surround me with Books, Music, and Flowers; what luxury, what richness! I should be content.
And, how will I live with myself, my books, music, and flowers?! By sharing them with others through this web site. That is all I know to do. Here's to you!
* John Adams to Abigail Adams, [post 12 May 1780]
Adams Family Correspondence, 3:342
http://www.masshist.org/adams/quotes.cfm
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