I know it can be hard to find 70 or so extra minutes in your day to sit and watch something that will get you really thinking. But if you can find it….I implore you to watch this.
In fact – you don’t really need to watch – just listen while you do something else.
There are so many things about this talk that have my brain whirring off in a million different directions. I am sharing this here as much to encourage you as I am marking it for myself so I can quickly find it again. I know I need to watch it a few more times to take it all in.
And right off the top — Pollan makes a point about how he was originally a ‘garden writer’….a term that I personally struggle with as there are relatively few who also refer to themselves in this way and whom I admire for their professional achievements and skill.
I had a thought over the weekend about how (after the initial shock has worn off), sad I am at the loss of Garden Design Magazine. Not because I recently loved it or will miss its individual issues — see my last post about this, – but because it signifies a loss of something that I once admired and strove for. There were great writers there on occasion and layouts that inspired me. There was a sense of skill in putting it all together. I’ve always admired Martha Stewart magazines for the same reason. Those spreads are so beautiful and the styling and photography so perfect. I’m sad that these outlets are shrinking and disappearing and I am casting about for who to look up to these days. I wonder if it is part of getting older that you outgrow your heroes or are there just fewer heroes? I’m not entirely sure.
Anyway — Michael Pollan is still definitely in my hero category…and to know that he, at one time, considered himself to be a garden writer gives me great hope and inspiration as I continue to explore my own path of writing.
So — if you have watched this video — I would love to chat about it. Other things I am still pondering is the part about Pagans and plants….and the rise of Christianity and the subsequent vilifying of plants (note forbidden apple from tree of life) as well as the idea that plants are as evolved as humans (plant genius) and the part about how the drugs we accept (vs. those we vilify) are a reflection of our cultural values and capitalistic society — and what does it mean that we are beginning to accept cannabis?
So much to talk about…if you want to chat these and other things over — by all means, meet me in the comments.