I’ve got to be honest- I don’t overly enjoy being outside and working on things like weeding, cutting grass and planting flowers; I just don’t like being covered in dirt. What I do enjoy, however, are flowers. Since moving into a house with what one friend calls “Serious gardening potential”, I have taken more of an interest in what I used to only consider a poor old lady hobby- gardening. (I say poor seriously; when I used to attend presentation sessions from Mutual Fund companies when selling investments in a previous life, they would say things like: “What kind of retirement do your clients want? Do they want to be jetsetting around Europe during their twilight years thanks to all the savings they’ve acquired or will they be stuck at home gardening because they don’t have any money” Gardening got a very bad rap.)
While I’m still allergic to most things that are green (Yay hayfever) and I’m not fond of dirt and bugs, I’ve found that there can be some kind of cathartic feeling about gardening that I enjoy. I think what I appreciate about it is the feeling of starting something from a package of little pieces of dirt and caring for it until they turn into pretty flowers. There’s something rewarding about it that is hard to get from a “professional” job. There’s not really a day, ever, in my career where I can stand back and admire something I’ve created. Sure, I can see numbers as a result of a campaign I launched or profitability models showing how much money this initiative is making- but I can never visually see the success of building something with my own hands. This is why I think I enjoy it.
My French Herb Garden, Just Starting to Grow
Now this isn’t saying I’m great at it. I have no idea what I’m doing and generally get sucked into buying the prettiest flowers, not realizing they require daily infusions of 1/8 tsp. of pure rose water and sun shades to stay alive. But I’ve started recently growing some flowers in my house which are a constant source of pleasure to me: my soon-to-be lilac tree and my french herb garden. Eventually, the lilac tree will move outdoors when it gets big enough and the French herb garden is going to also have to be transplanted; and that means I’ll have nothing inside the house I that I can enjoy all year round.
I was at a friend’s house the other day and was amazed by her orchids. I thought how fun it would be to grow some orchids, but didn’t give it much more thought until today when I was reading a book about the importance of having little luxuries in your life which you provide to yourself without costing significant amounts of money. One of the “passions” in the book was a woman who loved flowers, but couldn’t afford the cost of constantly buying fresh cut flowers for her house. So, she decided to start a pale-pink orchid collection in her house which turned out to be both a hobby and passion of hers. I figure I can at the very least attempt to grow orchids- so tomorrow I am taking a gift certificate I got for Christmas and going to get a couple of orchids.
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