The Orchid Whisperer

Claire calls herself an orchid whisperer. Ever since a friend gave her an orchid a few years ago, and then another friend gave her another orchid, Claire has had ever-blooming success with her orchids.

My comparing mind jumps in and thinks about how pathetic my own orchid looks. That's orchid singular, since the other one died.

The comparing mind judges good/bad, right/wrong, up/down, right/left, which often leaves us in the one-down positions struggling to regain our one-upsmanship. What a useless waste of mental energy.

We could just whisper kindly and gently to ourselves, "There, there, my dear. Your orchid died. All conditioned things are impermanent. And your orchid did not have the right conditions to live." Sigh.

Back and Forth

The other person in my house moved the winter flowerpot, with greens and a gazing globe, off the front step in December. He didn't want to shovel snow around it. So today, while he was taking the lights off the outdoor Christmas tree, i surreptitiously moved the greens + gazing globe flowerpot out of the garage and back onto the front step.

A month from now, i'll decorate the front step with pansies, but until then, a dash of green looks pretty good. Well, yes, snow is predicted for tomorrow, but shoveling the front step is my job, so i'm happy to have snow and a flowerpot.

The flowerpot stresses him; it doesn't stress me. Taking the lights off the outdoor Christmas tree stresses me (sigh!); but not him. He dislikes gazing globes; i enjoy them.

We could go back and forth all day, claiming our point of view is right, and his (or their) point of view is wrong. The mind seems to love this right/wrong, good/bad duality. And therein lies the source of our stress.

In truth, the Christmas lights have been taken down. I don't really need to have an opinion about it. My opinion = stress. I've moved the flowerpot to the front step, but tomorrow i may find it back in the garage again. Change happens. That is all.

Photo from greenlandgarden.com