I went to my first ever Buddhist teaching last week. It was on karma and sort of incidentally the teacher monk guy person said that things don’t make us happy; we make us happy. True happiness is found within when we do good things (which is also v. good for the karma and after that it gets complicated. But I digress). Anyway, I don’t think Kelsang Dorje (the teacher monk guy person) is a gardener. Then again maybe he is. In any case, not a day goes by when I don’t think my garden (and consequently my capacity for happiness) would be complete without a particular plant or, as of this past week, a particular plant container that I’ve taken to walking by daily as if the owner might notice my desire for it and bestow it upon me as I pass (I’d have to go back for the car). But if only… If only it were mine! In my garden! Then true bliss.
Then again, I know me. Last week Gail (my coworker) and I went to one of our favorite nurseries to buy things for holes at work (see this post if you haven’t already and you’re curious) and more importantly, buy things for each other as a belated birthday extravaganza. We both fell for, of all things, wisteria. You probably already know what was on my wish-list for the arbor but I was completely taken in by the thought of a native wisteria that “reblooms” and is “easier to control” and “attractive to butterflies”. Never mind that it grows 20′ and needs constant pruning attention at the top of a tall ladder. Never mind that.
Anyway, at the time, standing there at Peckham’s cradling the wisteria like a baby, nothing would make me happier. But now that it’s planted, I’m not so sure. Maybe Dorje is right. Does this happen to you too?
kristin green | trench manicure 