Sunday, July 29, 2012

does having a pretty yard make you good?

Good morning folks!
Happy Sunday.


I live in the country.
i am awakened in the morning
by birds and barking dogs,
crows and fighting seagulls…

I love the fact that i live near the ocean
but i wonder sometimes why so many people
 seem so obsessed with landscaping
and with having pretty things.

When i go for my morning walks,
i am amazed at how manicured some of the properties are.
Sometimes i think there must be a competition going on
that i'm not aware of. 
;-)



As i write this (it is 9am on Sunday)
i hear the sound of a chain saw cutting through my ears…
the neighbour across the street is "trimming" his trees again.

I love a nice garden
(this is the first year of many we decided not to put one in)
and i certainly love flowers,
but i see all these people spend most of their weekends working in the yard
and i never see them relaxing in the yard
or sitting in their beautiful matching white wicker Costco furniture in the yard
or just enjoying the scenery...

and i sometimes wonder, why they do it.



I realize it's important to have pride in your property
but i wonder how many are playing the
"my property is prettier than yours" game?

Is it me or have we become ridiculously obsessed
with appearances?

The houses we own
the cars we drive
the clothes we wear
all seem to be screaming "look at me! I'm successful!!"

Yeah, you're also an alcoholic,
hooked on anti-depressants,
and you've disowned your own child because he's gay.
Let's not try to hide that behind the pretty flowers, 'kay?

I'll never be impressed with such shallow beauty.
What impresses me is what's inside the person
as cheesy as that may sound.



If you look past the pretty flowers,
past the beautifully manicured lawns
past the BMW and the Mercedes…
you'll find a normal human being
with the same fears and doubts and regrets as you or I
who often feels less worthy without his "things".

I know because there are some in my family
who surround themselves with things
and try to make themselves feel better about who they are.
It never works.

I am never diminished by what my neighbour has
that i don't have,
including the perfectly manicured lawn
and the pretty flowers.

These things don't matter to me.

What matters is who you are as a person
and if you're a good person,
i'll like you,
and if you're an asshole, i won't.

Pretty things doesn't mean pretty people.

xoxo

11 comments:

  1. Never being one to keep up with the "Joneses", I understand what you're saying. Some people though, just need to keep busy. My hubby has to be constantly doing, both out of pride for our home and because he feels best when he's doing something physical. Since I can no longer do most anything physical I get to enjoy the calm and the beauty that he's surrounded us with :).
    Stay inspired!

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  2. This is so rich and wonderfully said. I love to know that someone else is thinking these same sorts of things. This morning when Gracie and I were out on our Adventure I noticed the lawns that were nicely coiffed and remembered my back area which has grown some sort of "grass-like" stuff with all our rain, but which is BEyond my push mower's capability [or mayBE just mine?!] I decided that no one even sees that area and it might BE nice to just let a jungle grow back there!!! Gracie sure loves wandering in and through it!!!
    Life has BEcome Very Simple as I have come to care so little for things and opened my heart to PEOPLE, Life's Amazing Grace, and Ideas that build and encourage.
    Well said, Pauline, and spot on.

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  3. wonderful post! i really love what you said and how you said it.

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  4. I couldn't agree with you more. Often feel the same thing going on with blogs...one even more plastic fantastic than the other. But who the person behind it is? Sometimes I feel the blogger herself doesn't even know that.

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  5. One of the reasons I love this blog is that you manage to express what I'm thinking (but with much nicer words).

    There's lots of green stuff in front of my kitchen wall. I have no idea what most of it is, and people comment that it's a bit scruffy. But I don't care, because every so often flowers appear. And it's much nicer than the bricks :)

    x

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  6. Michelle, your hubby sounds like a great guy... and trust me, i TOTALLY understand those who must "do" all the time. ;-)
    Currie - LOL! "grass-like stuff"... heheheee...
    Mandy - re: blogs. Sometimes it takes a while to see through the bullshit, but eventually, we always do. (ps: plastic fantastic...heheheee)
    Nigel - LOL! "a bit scruffy"... sheeesh. At least "scruffy" is natural, unlike a lawn that looks like fucking carpet. xox

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  7. I try very hard not to judge those with perfect...anythings!

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  8. bohemiannie... you are a better person than I if you accomplish this. Thanks for the reminder. :-) xox

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  9. Pauline this post spoke to me!! I wrote a post so similar in 2007 because I was that person and stepped off that insane treadmill of life!! Just the other day I heard a relative say he almost didn't want to get up because the to do list was so daunting!! Sadly he is always chasing perfection and a buck!! Never following his true bliss, and not completely happy either!! Excellent post and why I love your Rich blog!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  10. WOW!!
    Bold & brave... love it. :]
    Telling it like you see it takes courage, my friend.
    As I read your post... you have plenty.
    To me... this makes you a "beautiful" person, FROM THE INSIDE OUT. ~xx

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