ALLEGORY OF LIFE

I've been spending quite a bit of time in the garden lately, getting the weeds before they get me.  It's one of the unlovely chores that must be done, but I confess, I have to drag myself by the collar to get out there and do it.  And the flowers are SO ungrateful!  I end up with scratches, cuts and bruises, and I limp in, declaring that I am finished for the season, yet the next time I walk along one of the paths and see a weed, I feel compelled to reach in and yank it out.  I remember one totally embarrassing day when the weed won and dragged me head first into the Bee Balm.  Oh, I HOPE no one saw me!
And Roses are plain and simply malicious Divas.  No matter how much I weed, feed, and coddle, they reach out to snare me with their thorns, tearing my clothes and my skin.  And  they do it because they know they can.  With their beauty and glorious scent, I'll never send them packing.
I plant things that I love to look at , love to have scenting the air, and flowers that will make nice backgrounds in paintings.  Thoughts about painting are never far away.

It strikes me that a garden is an Allegory of Life.  You need to be careful what you put in it.  Plant a bully of a flower or neglect a weed so that it takes over, and it's the same as letting people into your life who will verbally bully you and fill your head with negative thoughts - "no you can't, no you aren't"  and pretty soon, it's as if you were wrapped in bindweed, you just can't move forward with your life.  But plant beautiful things, nurture them, and love them, and pretty soon they will bloom, just as we do when we are surrounded by supportive, loving friends.  A garden and life both take a lot of work, but if you plant carefully and work hard, and  have faith,  your garden and your life will be beautiful. At least, that's my thought.

 Cheers,
Heather Anderson
www.heatheranderson-animalart.com