I tucked a quote at the sidebar by Voltaire, 'We must cultivate our garden', after finding it in a book I was reading over the weekend. Now, here's an admission. I'd been reading the A. McCall Smith book, and 'This is Your Brain in Love' at the same time. Try as I might, after reading both, I couldn't for the life of me find the quote, but I *think* it's in the McCall Smith one. Regardless, it fits with the story he writes, so here I babble on.... The main character of the story leaves London for personal reasons and relocates in a small English town for the duration of the war. Her circumstances change in one by her need to grow a garden. Now, the war wasn't the reason for her move, but something else---even so, she was driven to live her life a bit differently than she ordinarily would have simply because of war-time.Anyway, she struggles over dealing with her personal pain (won't give it away here), and the reality of war in her backyard, so to speak. She gardens not only for vegetables, which were needed, but to soothe her mind. The thread that runs through the book (and one I need to hear) is that we have to sometimes focus on what's in front of us, and almost avoid looking too far outside of ourselves.
This is true in my life.
I can get so wrapped up in the folks who pretend to run our country, reading the news to an extent that's addictive, OR, I can spend all of that energy and angst in a positive way by taking care of my family. The idea of focusing nearer to home is so appealing, I had to memorize that quote. It just comforts my heart. I don't have to indulge in self-torture by gobbling up the daily events of the world, but I do have to tend to my personal garden. And these days, that seems to be plenty.
