Yesterday morning I was planting a few gladiolus corms and pulling weeds from the flowerbed. I've never been much of a gardener; we've lived in this house for nearly thirteen years, and only over the last few have we planted anything. Three years ago I planted a few tomatoes and some zucchini for the first time, along the side of the house. A year later I cut down several yew bushes in front of the house to make room for some flowers. I've put in a few vegetables and annual and perennial flowers each year since.
It occurred to me yesterday that gardens are like relationships: the more you invest in and tend them, the more precious they become. They take on more beauty, and become increasingly worth investing more effort into.
A little while later, while planting some trumpet vines in the back, a further thought struck me: the more we invest in something, the more worthy of pursuit we perceive it to be. Whether we pursue relationships, gardening, money, possessions, power, sexuality, physical achievement, or any number of other interests, the more we invest ourselves into them, the higher we value them because of our investment. It makes me remember how important it is to be careful about what I choose to invest myself into.
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