The Psychology Behind Gardening

I don’t know what it is about a garden that has always drawn humans to them. But they’ve always been very popular, and an integral part of peoples’ lifestyles. Most religions feature gardens as the settings for some of the biggest events According to Christianity, humanity was started in a garden and the son of God was resurrected in a garden. The Buddhist build gardens to allow nature to permeate their surroundings. Almost every major palace and government building has a garden. But what’s so great about them? They’re just a bunch of plants, after all.

Of course, the reasoning is fairly obvious behind why people grow food in gardens. It’s to eat! If you live off the land and actually survive on stuff from your garden, it’s easy to understand the reasoning.

But I’m thinking about those people who plant flower gardens just for the sake of looking nice. There’s no immediate benefit that I can see; you just have a bunch of flowers in your yard! However, after thinking extensively about the motivation behind planting decorative gardens, I’ve conceived several possible theories and please take them with a pinch of salt.

I think one of the reasons people love gardens so much is that while we have a natural desire to progress and industrialize, deep within all of us is a primal love for nature. While this desire might not be as strong as the desire for modernism, it is still strong enough to compel us to create gardens, small outlets of nature, in the midst of all our hustle and bustle. Since being in nature is like regressing to an earlier stage of humanity, we too can regress to a time of comfort and utter happiness.

This is why gardens are so relaxing and calming to be in. This is why gardens are a good place to meditate and do tai chi exercises. A garden is a way to quickly escape from the busy world.

I’ve thought at times that perhaps we as humans feel a sort of guilt driving us to restore nature and care for it. This guilt could stem from the knowledge that we, not personally but as a race, have destroyed so much of nature to get where we are today. It’s the least we can do to build a small garden in remembrance of all the trees we kill every day. It’s my theory that this is the underlying reason for most people to take up gardening as a hobby.

Gardening is definitely a healthy habit though, don’t get me wrong. Any hobby that provides physical exercise, helps the environment, and improve your diet can’t be a negative thing. So, no matter what the underlying psychological cause for gardening is, I think that everyone should continue to do so. In the USA especially, which is dealing with obesity and pollution as its two major problems, I think gardening can only serve to improve the state of the world.

Of course, I’m no psychologist; I’m just a gardener. I often stay up for hours wondering what makes me garden. What is it that makes me go outside for a few hours every day with my gardening tools, and facilitate the small-time growth of plants that would grow naturally on their own? I may never know, but in this case, ignorance truly is bliss.

The Joys of Gardening

If you are not a gardener, you may wonder why this hobby has become so popular even with people who have the resources to go to the grocery and get food with much less effort. Perhaps much of the joy that comes from gardening originated in the baby boomer values that came from those golden days of the 1960s.  Part of the ethical and moral system of that time in our cultural history was the “back to the land” movement to get back to our roots and away from the alleged sins of modern society.

From this same movement, we got the increased interest in vegetarianism, yoga, natural eating and the environmental movement. So, while we may look back with a bit of chagrin on the idealism and sometimes radical values for the time, that baby boomer history represents, there are some very good lifestyle choices that came from that era of our shared lives. And the love of gardening is one of the good things that many of us kept from that time.

Gardening is a hobby that is unique among pastimes because virtually nothing bad can come of it. Even if you are a total failure at gardening and don’t produce a single morsel of food from your garden, just the act of working with the earth and making something grow is so therapeutic that it’s worth the effort even if you only grow weeds☹.

Some reasons gardening is a wonderful hobby is that it’s simple, inexpensive, and joyful. With gardening, you can keep it simple or you can get as sophisticated and scientific at it as you please. Gardening is like fishing in the way that even if you are terrible at it, it’s entirely worth doing just for the joy of the time you are in your garden. There really is nothing comparable in therapy for going out in the garden in the evening after a stressful day. Working with the soil and spending sometime nurturing and pouring your tender loving care into the garden can make those worries and anxieties of the office melt away. Then when you come in after an hour of gardening, those cares take on their proper perspective so you can deal with them.

Gardening in creativity for the uncreative. When you till your garden and prepare your soil, that is like a master painter preparing his paints to produce that masterpiece. But when you finally open the packages of seeds or take the small plant from its container and you place them just so in that carefully prepared soil, there is a sensation of making something happen that is new life. This feeling happens because you are creating life by the act of planting. This feeling, I believe, refreshes even the most cynical boomer and puts them in touch with themselves and with nature in a way that is hard to match in any other pastime.

Even the simple act of watering has almost a mystical power for you and the time it takes to water your garden can become the best part of your day. But when that day comes that you rush out to your garden and see those young sprouts come up that you so carefully planted and cared for, it’s a little moment of parenting that can bring real joy to your heart.

We understand that we did not create the seed and that we are no more than caregivers that helps the plant sprout and then grow into a plant. By becoming part of the cycle of nature when we care for the plants in our garden, it gives us a feeling of completion. That connection to the eternal cycle of life will lift our spirit.

So, don’t be afraid to put together a small plot of land and begin planning your little garden. Even if you are an apartment dweller, you can organize a garden with planter boxes and grow lights and get many of the same joys from your little garden that the master garden with acres of crops can get.

Gardening Tips for Beginners

It is the middle of winter, but it is never too early to think about your garden, March will be here in less than two weeks and Spring is not far behind. Over the next few posts I am going to focus on gardening.

If you are just beginning with gardening, don't be afraid for it is not meant to be difficult. In fact, it can be so much fun much more than what you think. If you don't know how to start, there is always an avenue of knowledge for you: your parents to assist you, informational books and magazines to read, and the internet to browse more information.

It used to be that gardening appealed only to the older generation. But nowadays, people of all ages, children, young adults, adults, and old folks alike, they see gardening as a refreshing and rewarding hobby to take. Why not? With all the benefits that you get, being a busy, career person should never be used as a hindrance to starting growing your own plants indoor or outdoor. You will see the big difference when you get to harvest your own fruits of labors.

It doesn't matter what you prefer. Would you like to have a bed of beautiful and colorful flowers, country garden full of wildflowers and shrubs, manicured lawn strategically placed with shrubs and little trees, or just a simple backyard with lots of pots and containers planted with grown plants? It isn't a problem to start one because you can find lots of information on how you can start doing them. You can also ask questions and assistance from the experts.

For a starter, you will need these basic tools: trowel, spade, lawnmower, rake, and plants of your choice to grow. It would help a lot if you have some sort of garden plan based on the space that is available. In this way, it won't be difficult for you to arrange some things like flower beds, lawns, paths, and on your garden bed or space. 

The kinds of plants that you will grow will depend on what you want, the availability, and the climate that your location has. There are plants that grow only for the season but there are others too that can be cultivated to grow year after year. If you consider yourself a hobby gardener like me, then you would want to have plants that do not grow more than two seasons. These are perennial plants that allow you to tend to other things other than mere gardening.

If you don't know what plants to start growing, you can always ask assistance from the local nursery available in your location. The experts from there should know what types would thrive specifically considering the climate in your area. And speaking of the local nursery, it is one avenue to buy plants you want in your garden. It is usually available with packets of seeds or small young plants for the beginners to grow. I prefer the young plants as I find it too much trouble to grow from seed. My brother, however, has a greenhouse and he swears that growing from seed is the only way to garden. You can obtain them whether via online or mail order.

The small young plants are great choice if you want to have an automatic decorative display in your garden. Otherwise, as my brother does, choosing seeds to grow and watching them grow will provide great satisfaction from the accomplishment of having to cultivate and care for them. You can have the seeds planted in pots or containers, or you can plant them onto the pre-designed bed of soil. Gardening is fun and exciting, and of course, rewarding.

Green Shield vs Blue Cross

Institutional ageism appears to be built into the culture of Green Shield Health Insurance. I say that because I have been hearing stories from friends about their dealings with our insurer and because of my first-hand experience. First, I know I am lucky to have extended medical coverage in retirement, but I still expect good service and respect from our insurer. Our Pension Board recently changed from Blue Cross to Green Shield to save members money. Since my health is relatively good as is my wife's we have not had to deal much with our insurer. Friends of mine have been complaining about the service they got with Green Shield and what they used to get with Blue Cross. I thought they were exaggerating, until recently. 

Institutional discrimination is being challenged in today's society. Many women are challenging the sexual discrimination and sexism that has occurred for far too many years in our institutions and our society. Racism has raised its ugly head in the United States because of the attitude of the leadership in that country. In Canada, we, as a society, have yet to come to terms with our racist attitude toward our indigenous people, but we are working (some would say not hard enough) to try to change our attitudes. But institutional and societal racism is still in Canada as noted by the killing of the indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, and the way the RCMP gave the news to his family and the not guilty verdict handed down by an all-white jury.  

Ageism is another form of discrimination that exists in our institutions, and our society. Butler defined "ageism" as a combination of three connected elements. Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the ageing process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about elderly people. I believe that Green Sheild practices institutional ageism because they have, I believe discriminatory practices and perpetuate stereotypes about seniors. 

My wife went to her doctor to get some medication and was prescribed the medication for three months by her doctor. I went to the pharmacy and they told me that Green Shield only allows a patient a week for new medication, and after a week Green Shield would allow the patient to get the remainder of the medication. This to me, means that Green Sheild policy shows that the organization believes that seniors do not have the ability to know what is good for them and therefore Green Shield must protect seniors, which is a form of ageism. 

I know that any organization that practices discrimination such as Green Shield will deny that they practice discrimination and ageism, and that is because they are blind to the facts. They may think that they are doing the best for their clients, which of course means they believe the client does not have the ability to make good decisions. Is the development of these policies based on the idea that all seniors become forgetful or get dementia or another form of cognitive slowdown? 

Because they appear to have an institutional ageism, to which they are blind, Green Shield takes a paternalistic attitude towards its patients and has, it appears no problem overriding Doctors, and Specialists who prescribed the medication, which is demeaning to the patient. Because of institutional discrimination against seniors built on ageist policies, Green Shield attitudes towards its clients that are a throwback to the 50's, when paternalistic attitudes were common.

I don't think I am alone in my attitude that Green Shield was not the best choice for us because of their paternalistic and condescending attitude and ageist practices because when I read our newsletter the following caught my eye:

The office staff are spending quite a bit of time dealing with questions and issues around Green Shield Canada (GSC) – the Extended Health Benefit provider for members in the Pension Plan. The move to Green Shield was a decision of the Pension Board of Trustees – not (us). The decision was made following an open competition; other insurance companies were invited to submit proposals and GSC won the competition. (We) play no role in this as we have no direct contractual relationship with GSC.

Green Shield appears to have upset many of my colleagues and the executive of the organization appears to be playing a game of "it's not me it is them" to try to placate members. The executive may not have a contractual relationship with Green Shield but they do have an obligation to their members to investigate the issues and if the membership is not happy to make their wishes known to the Pension Board of Trustees. The Pension Board will not listen to individual members but it may listen to an organization that speaks for thousands of members. If the executive chooses not to act then they by their inaction are accepting that institutional discrimination practiced by Green Shield is acceptable to them.

I don't mind paying a bit more to be treated with the respect that I deserve as an adult, instead of being treated like a child by Green Shield so I would not object to a move back to Blue Cross, which did treat us with respect and did not appear to have an institutional culture of ageism and discrimination.

I did send an email stating the above to Green Shield which was taken from their website, however, the email was bounced back. (see below) So Green Shield, which has a Web page dedicated to dealing with customer complaints, doesn't even have an email on its site that is correct. What can I say about poor attitude and poor customer relations?

Delivery has failed on the enclosed message for the following reasons reported either by the mail delivery system on the mail relay host or by the local TCP/IP transport module:

   550 5.1.1 <tpbt@pensionsbc.ca> recipient rejected

   550 5.1.1 <customer.service@greenshield.ca> recipient rejected