Gardening

Just read an article about Business lesson from a quiet gardener from ijourney. I can't help but amazed by such a synchronicity. Just some time ago, my friend adopted a little piece of land at the rooftop of her workplace to plant some corns. And last weekend, we went to have a look and clear some weeds from the "plantation". Of course, we weren't thinking about business at all. It was all fun and great form of exercise for us. And most of all, seeing those corns "popping" out from the leaves just left us in awe. That was my first time clearing weeds. It's not as easy as one may think. First have to identify which are the weeds and shove some soil out to pull out the roots and in the midst of doing all these, have to pay special attention in not chopping the roots of the sweet corn! And after clearing the weeds, follows some tying of little poles to make the sweet corn growing straight up and doesn't (in my friend's words) "fracture" its stem. Oh at first, I can't bear to get rid of the weeds. Because to me, they are lovely plants too. I spotted a tiny mushroom growing out from the little windmill decor. But of course, the objective is to grow corns, not weeds nor mushrooms. So back to the big picture, I plucked out the weeds around. 

Now to think of it in relation to business, maybe that's a little reminder for us to always remember what is our objective of business; the big picture. And who are we targeting at, what do we want to achieve. Because it's easy to settle for the weeds and tell myself that weeds are beautiful too. (Maybe a little like how business tends to fall into the trap of targeting at the easy customers, despite knowing they are not the intended group of consumers for long term goal.)

And like what the article mentions, seriously gardening is a lot about harmony, balance. Put fertilizer, but not too much. Water it, but not over do it. Expose to sun, but remember we are not grilling the corns yet. Planting and gardening takes a lot of care and attention to notice every single element to be in place for a healthy growth. The water, soil, density of plants, sun, fertilizer, weeds, seeds. And of course, not forgetting, to cause less harm to the insects that inhabit in vicinity. 

In my own opinion, gardening is some form of exercise in striking the balance mindlessness and mindfulness. Mindlessness as in it kind of clear your mind of unnecessary thoughts since you have to use physical energy and attention while taking care of the land, the roots of plants. Mindfulness as in it practices heighten awareness of surrounding environment, higher consciousness of co-existing with a lot more life forms than we usually notice. The ants, the bees, the butterflies...the caterpillar...they are all there. The food we eat; the veggies, the corns, the rice all have to go through the process of growing from seedlings to harvesting by hands. The next time we eat a ladyfinger or a corn, remember how much care it has received from nature and its caregiver before it can reach us as food.