Skip to main content

nothing is permanent

{the pothole gardener}
when I first saw these pothole gardens I thought "how ridiculous! It will just get run over!" I think the worst of people sometimes, assuming that it will not just get run over, but aimed at. A little pretty target in the road. but then I stumbled onto the wise words of bits of beauty. she says:

But, then I thought about how often we don’t do things because we’re afraid of what will happen. We’re afraid all our effort will have been lost. We think it’s a waste of our time, so we don’t create. We deny the world of something beautiful, of our efforts, because we’re afraid! When you sum it up, nothing lasts forever. We might as well say we won’t live our lives because it will end someday.

sometimes I think I have lived my entire life in fear of impermanence, imperfection and failure. cooking seems to be the only think I can let slide because whether it works or not, I still have to eat. I still get to eat. what I always forget is that I by creating things, I am feeding something else inside of me. my last semester of college, I took a book arts class. although I loved the bigger projects I had to finish for the class, (and I made a couple of really cool things, mind you) my favorite part of class was the daily instructional parts. my friend Julia and I would perch on our studio stools smiling at the little creations we would complete in the two hours we were in class. I took yoga too but this class was more therapeutic. It was not unusual for me to realize suddenly that I had been smiling for the last hour while I worked.
I am still without my little sewing nook. I am still without the drive to action. and I am still without the smiling that comes from just making the thing. I allow myself to be distracted by the things I have predetermined that I should be doing. and yet, I never get those things done either. anyone else have issues with this?

Comments

  1. i absolutley do - it's why my paints and blank canvas sit in the other room untouched far too often - this was a great reminder that it's the process that matters and to let go of trying to control the outcome - it's hard to do as a creative person sometimes isnt it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yes I do have issues with this. I know I need to create, but I don't unless it's something I can easily edit and change. Photography, editing those pictures, sure! Love it. But painting? Way more permanent, and while it's therapeutic I find myself never doing it. Writing? I don't want to write the things out in my head.

    That quote totally resonated with me though, I thought the same thing when I first saw the flowers in the potholes, but what a beautiful view to have on it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh I wish I had the impetus to start too. I really that little push.

    P.S. I have been on the lookout for a little pothole to take as mine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. this quote is so true. i have been afraid to garden this year because i don't know if i've moving mid summer, if my new place will have outdoor space, if my dogs will eat my plants like they have in the past, etc. but i decided to just go ahead and plant my container garden anyway. i can't let my fear of the future hold me back.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment