Why I Write

I came across a John Lubbock (British politician d. 1913) quote this weekend that sums up why I write:

"To do something, however small,
to make others happier and better,
is the highest, the most elevating hope,
which can inspire a human being."

Most of us will only be part of history; we won't make history. Yet that doesn't mean that our lives don't count. It doesn't mean that we can't "do something, however small, to make others happier and better".

I have learnt to live in the present and to look for the gems of life right where I am. I have learnt not to look over the garden fence and covet those flowers in my neighbour's garden that are absent in my garden. Instead, I have learnt to nurture that which already grows in my garden.

The heartache and tough times of life, guaranteed to all of us, becomes the compost which nourishes the soil, if we allow it to mature to all its stinking ripeness. For a beautiful and easy-to-tend garden, I now know to grow indigenous plants and flowers that are best suited to a garden's soil type and sun location. Some bulbs and plants are not going to grow in your garden, no matter how hard you try. Accept it. And weed regularly. All gardens need weeding - that is life. Pests will attack your garden; find the healthiest way to look out for them and to deal with them before they do too much damage.

I write with the hope that this expression of myself would, in a small way, encourage you to be more yourself and to grow your own most beautiful garden. And remember - stop coveting another's garden; you have not watered it with the same tears she has.