After a several decade career as a psychologist in private practice and on a graduate school faculty, I retired. There was the challenge of what to do and, even more importantly, how to feel about it since it would never be another career.
Gardening was something I had done (along with several other activities) on and off around the edges of working, minding my marriage and raising two children. All of a sudden I had more time to live with my plants; and I did just that. Friends asked me what I was doing with my time now that I had stopped working. I had many answers but they all had the same tone to me since they were for the most part activities I had been involved in before retiring fun ways of using small bits of time here and there. But it didnt feel good enough to be filling my time with a mosaic of filler. I realized that I was working with my work mind-set that activities should have a certain sense of importance for me. What do I mean by importance? I wasnt gardening to make money, to build a reputation among my peer group, to satisfy a sense of continuing professional growth. So, what would make gardening important? In a nutshell I realized that I could enjoy working outside and give myself credit for it. I discovered that I was someone who needed to feel that what I did mattered to me and making something matter was my challenge to myself. I had to transform gardening in my own mind from something I did on weekends when the kids were napping and then forgot about for a week, to something I cared about doing on a more regular basis. I had the insight that gardening isnt a hobby for certain types of people, but for particular states of mind. Perhaps most importantly, gardening is a rich enough activity to be satisfying psychologically for almost any mood or state of mind I happened to be in. If I am feeling particularly energetic, turning over a new plot of soil or pruning a tree really fits the bill and is pleasingly exhausting. If I am feeling low, pulling weeds or smelling roses or just walking around the plants can be satisfying and uplifting. If I am having a particular need for organization, printing up plant labels scratches that itch. When I am frustrated with life in general or having a conflict with my spouse, pushing dirt around is a good release. If I am in the mood to solve puzzles, all I have to do is look carefully for a good or bad bug, take my eye loupe and start flipping through my reference books. If I am feeling particularly virtuous, I make a point of using water from my rainwater barrel or making sure to use environmentally sound insecticides. If I feel the need to remind myself that I can read and/or think, there is no lack of written material to sink into and it doesnt matter how much I remember. If I feel the need for social contact, I can join a flower society or go to a garden show. And so on. Part of what is so wonderful about gardening is how malleable it can be to whatever I want or need at the moment. It pays back in both the short and long run with feedback that I am doing the right thing or not. So, as you can probably tell, as I see it gardening can be a wonderfully versatile and satisfying retirement activity for all seasons and mental states. I think that is the clue to a satisfying hobby, but really an essential ingredient of fun and engagement. I feel called on to say something to people who stay away from a living plant in order to save its life, people who feel they have black thumbs. This is my learner-in-waiting challenge the last mental state I want to mention: Buy a succulent for no more than $4 and keep it in the same plastic pot it comes in. Place it on a small saucer. It is probably already damp so put a note on it with the watering schedule one time a week. Give it no other water! A few minutes after watering it, pour out the excess water from the saucer. Place it wherever you have an accessible surface. After a few months, roots will begin growing out of the bottom of the pot and you can decide if you want to go to the next level of black thumb cure. Realize that you have grown a plant for several months and it is still alive. There are few activities more enjoyable than becoming aware of a new skill capability. Enjoy! Lowell Cooperis a master gardener with the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Fairfield. If you have gardening questions, call the Master Gardeners office at 784-1322.
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November 2018
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