On Gardening

Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa. Photo by @Daderot

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. - Marcus Cicero

For most of my childhood, I saw gardening as an old person’s hobby, kind of like furniture shopping. Maybe this is another indicator that I’m getting old, but I’m learning to appreciate it. Here are a few thoughts:

• Many of the the oldest people in the world have one hobby in common, gardening.
  
• Gardening is natural art. A piece of land is the canvas. Plants, trees, and flowers are the paintbrush. Nature is the original inspiration after all.
• To garden is to be responsible for another living thing. This feeling of dependence gives us a renewed sense of purpose; that we need to take care of ourselves because its not just about us anymore.
• Trees don’t grow overnight. Planting a seed and growing a tree is a long process. The tree requires care and maintenance and it may take years before the tree fully blooms. Gardening requires long term thinking.
• Being in gardens, and in nature, always improves my mood.
  
• Gardening is ephemeral.