The Community Garden

For the past year or so I have been trying to follow my intrinsic interests more. I realized a

while ago that I really struggle to spend my time doing things I enjoy doing even though

whenever I do them, I feel a lot better. Eventually I figured out that the problem I have with

finding this motivation is that there isn’t an obvious purpose behind it. Growing up, I only ever

really did things because I had to, for some extrinsic reason like school and grades; so much

of what I did was because it had a specific motivation behind it - like not failing. And despite

enjoying learning, writing, and other things, I never really learned how to do them just for the

sake of doing them. I connected this thought to what others have told me about themselves

and their own struggle to self-motivate. Many people I have spoken to have described the

same thing and some have put it as feeling of needing permission to do something. All of that

inspired me to do something about this, and so the idea of the ‘Community Garden’ came to

me. I imagined a place where people can put those things that we love to do and use the idea

of community to inspire each other to keep doing what we love.

The Community Garden was also intended to aid in the mass depression going on around the

world. I firmly believe that a big reason behind the mass depression is that much of our life is

centered around what we must do to survive – to earn money and exchange it for our basic

needs. Obviously, we hope that the job we do in some way expresses a part of who we are,

but often this isn’t the case. And, with much of our time focused on these things, we neglect

doing what we love, being who we are. With this view, depression can be redescribed as the

self being neglected, as if it is not existing to its fullest potential – an idea I will get into further

in future posts. So, by doing and sharing what we love, we are also fighting depression. We

are giving ourselves an outlet to exist, to be, if nothing else, just for the sake of being. This is

what the Community Garden is designed for – it is a place for the soul to be free, to express

anything and everything it is.

Eventually, I hope the community garden will become more than just a place to post our

passions. I hope it will become a place to communicate, collaborate, and spread ideas. As it is

today, so much of the effort to study the Universe is split among many different disciplines,

mediums, and is further divided into many outlets where information is put. If instead there

was a central place for all ideas, projects, and arts to be put, it would be much easier to

spread ideas and open the door for interdisciplinary collaboration. Whether the Community

Garden ends up being a place like this or not, it is an effort in belief of such a dream. A dream

of the world where truth is what is important, and where all people are encouraged to be a

part of the effort of uncovering the great mysteries of the Universe as well as capturing its

beauty through many diverse mediums.