Unbending the Hook

L-hook (foreground) and ?-hook (background) They used to be identical.

I'm fascinated by the bent hook that the bird feeder used to hang on. It used to be a question mark, and now it's an L. Wow! It takes a lot of power to straighten out one of those hooks. I've tried manipulating them with pliers and been frustrated.

All the bear had to do was hang on the bird feeder. Amazingly, it's hanger held (though bent from a C to a /\. And the ?-hook bent like butter. That bear has super-human strength. And it is hungry. Really hungry.

Would that our own "hooks" could be unbent so easily.

Which of the main 3 hooks is your biggest? (We all have all of them, so don't worry. You'll get to work on the others later.)

Greedy--desire for the pleasant--for stuff or for pleasant states of mind.
Aversive--pushing away the unpleasant--perhaps critical, impatient, or irritable
Delusional--confused or wishy-washy

Then relax. And practice loving-kindness toward yourself.


Read pages 77-79 of The Meditative Gardener for a fun quiz to figure this out.
Here's an example:

G I always store my trowel in the same place.
A I leave my trowel lying around.
D Hmmm. I don’t remember where I left my trowel.
G My tools are organized.
A My tools are in a jumble.
D Tools?
G My tools are color-coordinated.
G My garden gloves are color-coordinated with my garden boots (or
garden clogs).
A I never wear gloves.
D I can’t find my gloves.

Pleasant AND Unpleasant

On Friday, i attended the North Hill Garden Symposium: 200 people sitting on plastic folding chairs under a tent in a 55-degree drizzle.

The conditions were uncomfortable, but the speakers were brilliant. The 4 very best nurseries in the state had a selection of their rare wares for sale; the plants were unusual and otherwise unfindable. I sat beside the editor of Country Gardens magazine.

Pleasant: the speakers, the plants, the food
Unpleasant: the chill, the wet, and the hard chairs

If you are a person who focuses on the pleasant, you would have had a wonderful time chatting with luminaries of the gardening world.

If you are a person who focuses on the unpleasant, you would have complained about the weather and your lack of warm clothing while sitting still for 2 hours in the morning and another 2 hours in the afternoon.

The type of personality that chases the pleasant is called "greedy," because they crave the next pleasant experience. The type of personality that pushes the unpleasant away is called "aversive," because they want the unpleasant to end. Right now.

Which one do you resonate to?
And which type do you think i am? (Hint: re-read the first sentence.)

(If you don't know, then you may fall into the third category: Delusional.)