Gardening, Sewing, Parenting...

Gardening is a good metaphor for life. You know -- you reap what you sow and all that.

As I love to sew -- John loves to garden.

And -- altho I get a lot out of my sewing hobby -- I will never produce a museum quality quilt. My projects are imperfect and very much to my own taste..

Lately, John wonders if his gardening efforts are worthwhile -- cuz the weeds are winning...

In the bottom of our yard, I took a picture of this perfect Lilly... STUNNING...


And WHO CARES if the stunning lillies are surrounded by a sea of weeds? The weeds do not diminish my pleasure even one little bit...really...
But John feels bad that the weeds seem to be winning the war. I said maybe he shouldn't think of it as a war -- with a winner and a loser...

What is the real value of a HOBBY? Is it the end result? Or the enjoyment you get from doing a thing? If you enjoy playing the piano -- should your goal be a concert at Carnegie Hall? Or is it okay to make music for yourself -- at whatever level? Is my sewing less worthwhile even if it won't be photographed for a spread in THREADS magazine?

There is a message in here somewhere about raising children, too. No matter how hard you try, you can't keep the weeds out of their life.

And maybe the goal shouldn't be to have a "perfect child". One who behaves well at all times, says the right thing to adults, has perfect manners, excellent grades, and goes to bed without a fuss. You want to raise a child who can be strong, standing in a field of weeds, knowing how to deal with problems. A child who is kind to others, knows how to consider different points of view, and then makes up his/her own mind. It's HARD to raise a self-sufficient, thoughtful, thinking adult.


So I'm back to that gardening analogy. The trick is to overlook a few weeds...relax, let them grow to their full potential and enjoy the beauty of the stunning lily...