Sarah Gibbard Cook
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact

Weeding a Life

8/7/2017

8 Comments

 
When I moved to Wisconsin twenty-two years ago, my freelance writing moved with me. Everything else started fresh. Creating a new life was like planting a bare patch of dirt. Some activities and connections put down roots, while others soon died out. Happily, work transplanted well.

When I’ve lived in one place for years, the garden of my life sometimes needs weeding. It can get over-scheduled or unbalanced, with invasives spreading out of control. Periodically it’s time to pull out what no longer works, give essentials like writing and family the light and water they need, and plant a few new flowers in selected spots to keep the colors vibrant.
8 Comments
Matt
8/7/2017 08:05:36 am

Very nice metaphor! Hobbies can even receive a repotting, if you give them increased space and resources. Some activities are perennials, others are annuals, both beautiful when in bloom.

Reply
Sarah link
8/7/2017 08:29:24 am

Matt, I like the extension to hobbies or particular activities that benefit from repotting. I also like the reminder of the annuals that are glorious for a limited term, in addition to the perennials that bring joy year after year. There are also biennials and "short-lived perennials," making for a different mix each year.

When Mary Allen Walden moved to Georgia, her entire Christmas letter was about repotting a plant. How it drooped and looked iffy for a while, but then took hold and thrived in the larger container.

Reply
Jeanne Witte
8/7/2017 09:34:03 am

I love the idea of our lives as gardens. Some flowers - both annuals and perennials: trees of various shapes, colors and sizes: some bushes; some weeds. Your post reminds I need to do some weeding, and then some fertilizing of what's in the spaces left. Just the thought of putting different aspects of my life into pieces of my garden gives me a wonderful case of introspection. What do I really want my garden to look like? A natural wild space? A formal garden with each plant purposefully placed? A forest with too many trees? One uniquely shaped tree out in the middle of a field? Or in the middle of a forest? Thank you for this lovely new way of thinking about my life and how I want to live it.

Reply
Sarah link
8/7/2017 02:51:25 pm

Jeanne, what glorious imagery! So many possibilities for what life's garden can look like, and the wonderful awareness of wide-ranging choices that don't have to be the same from one year to the next. As you make your decisions and choices for the present, I'll be interested to hear about them.

Reply
Val Hanson
8/7/2017 09:38:56 am

I really did enjoy this, Sarah. Enough said from one who is not a writer.

Reply
Sarah link
8/7/2017 02:56:44 pm

Thank you, Val. I'm so glad when my musings strike a chord with writers and non-writers, gardeners and non-gardeners. (Alas, this writer is not a gardener, but one can always dream.)

Reply
Lisa
8/7/2017 11:01:04 am

I love this thread. I have about 250 daylilies in beds mixed with native flowers that are loved by butterflies. And not enough annuals, except for the utilitarian kale and kohlrabi and herbs scattered among the flowers... What does that say about me as a gardener, or about my life in general? That I have no distinct compartments? Actually, it works for me, but it's worthy of some journaling I think...

Reply
Sarah link
8/7/2017 03:01:56 pm

Lisa, I have this beautiful image of your lilies in my head, based on photos and not just imagination. A garden with butterflies and no distinct compartments sounds lovely to me. Perennials are constant surprise, constantly changing - in one friend's words, "like Christmas every day." I love them.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed


      ​get updates

    Sign up
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact