Tend Your Garden

"The deeper the civilization of a country may to a great extent be measured by the care she gives to her flower garden-the corner of her life where the supposedly 'useless' arts and graces flourish.

-Edith Wharton



I have recently finished my favorite book I have ever read (okay that might be a small exaggeration but it was very timely and well written). A few months back I picked up and interesting looking paperback at our local TJMAX called "Entre Nous, A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl" by Debra Ollivier. I can honestly say I picked it up because the cover had an interesting illustration,and it was a steal at $7.99. I tend to buy books like I buy wine, for the cool label. Fortunately for me, this book was a full bodied, timeless vintage with an introspective finish. (he he I should review books for a living huh?) The last chapter really struck home with me in regards to work and leisure. Sunday night Mr. Mc and I sat down for some "serious organization and goal strategy" or in other words, "planning how I can get my butt of the couch and do something with my art already".
Armed with multicolored sharpies and a large(and I mean large) pad of paper I wrote out a weekly plan for getting my booty in gear. This plan has actually worked and I can say that I have accomplished many goals and the ever-present-self-guilt has been locked in a closet for the time being. Now you may be thinking....."good for you, way to get your list done" and coming from our multitasking, list making, productive society, it makes perfect sense to think this way. But, after reading the final chapter in "Entre Nous" yesterday I realized the sadness of my plan. I had created rules to force creativity upon myself and planned a week without regards to what my feelings and inclination would be for each day. Sure this week I have started a blog, painted, knitted, worked on a web page, designed business cards,and lowered my television intake, but I simply did them to make a check-mark on my over-sized colorful to do list! How sad! So yesterday I decided to relax, and tend my garden. I painted in my room, listened to records, drank coffee, read, browsed craft books, journaled, took an extra long shower and pampered my skin. At the end of the day I looked back at what I had experienced and thought about, what I had learned about myself and felt an anticipation of what the next day would bring. Funny enough, I had accomplished my list without realizing it! By tuning into my own sense of priorities I had reached my daily goals without the constraints of a schedule.
Now, I realize that we must work to live, but we MUST choose to "give everything in our lives its natural due whether it be work, family, or interests. So stop your laptopping (what I call mindlessly browsing the Internet, playing stupid games, and cyberstalking) limit your television (they are NOT real people who care about you) stop taking work calls at lunch, and take time to tend to your gardens!