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Began, January 2020, a new Sunday School class, Pastor is instructor, reading the Bible in a year. Never done it. No clue how to 'think' about Bible passages, stories.
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With assigned workbook, study bible inherited from my dad, educated/wise instructor, a small start, for my new Mental Model: What Does This Mean To Me?. Ha ha ha, sick with flu for weeks, slow recovery, Sunday School classes/Church Covid cancelled, behind in reading.
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Before the world stopped for Covid, in bed on Sunday nites, I would think, What Does This Mean To Me?
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Best Mental Model ever, this lone question, What Does This Mean To Me? Any topic, combined with serious inquiry.
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Did you already know to ask this question?
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Gardening. Why didn't I know this Mental Model at the front end of Gardening? Instead, it was full passion for all that was loved, disdain for gardens whose style I did not like. Taking everything, in the order passions reigned. No regrets for those decades, blessed they passed away, and, like Elaine Stritch, I'm Still Here.
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At the front end, I did not like this style Garden Design, below.
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Now? Understand its layers of being. Contrasting shapes bring drama, romance, interest. Cone shapes draw eyes to the sky. Wise choices within the shapes give year round interest, deer proof, no disease, drought tolerance, wet tolerant, no chemicals, less maintenance, lowered HVAC bills, higher property values, more pollinators, scent, backdrop to your life, with your family, friends, pets.
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When love has run out. When energy is lost for anger. When fear topples away. When you'll never get what you've most wanted and the moment of realization is clear. You know your story, the inner dialogue, was too small.
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Aren't those the best moments ever? Freedom. How many times, being Icarus, do we each have?
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Pic, above, here.
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I began gardening with Top Down thinking. A small Mental Model to bring into adulthood.
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Bottom Up thinking. "The most vivid part of the mind bubbles up through sensation and new experience when unencumbered by analytical thought." Daniel Siegal.
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Pic, above, here.
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Shapes not just of plants, are important, below. Shape of your entire property, home, Garden Design. Mount Vernon, below, a painting done not long after Washington died. This shape, low meadow with wild wood, creates maximum pollinator habitat. Important why? Increase crop yields by 80%
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Food to survive, and thrive.
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Pic, above, here.
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Shapes creating architecture, below. Rooms, doorway, enfilade, hallway, walls, ceiling, floor, thresholds, art on the walls.
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Pic, above, here.
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Bottom up thinking, is new thinking, gifting grace, beauty, and transcendence.
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"I know the world is bruised and bleeding and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence." Toni Morrison
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After the grand you-do-you, what then? What plinths to use, mental models for the most serious journey of your life? Tilting at windmills is the gift. Choose your windmills wisely, What Does This Mean To Me?, then, tilt with everything in you. There be your transcendence.
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Fortunately, John Muir asked, What Does This Mean To Me? And wrote his answers. "“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees.” Muir, who came to California seeking the solitude of nature, decided to stay—dabbling as a glaciologist, a wilderness activist, and a writer who published persuasive ecological articles with a quill made from a golden eagle feather found on Yosemite’s Mount Hoffmann." From National Park Service, here.
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For every person reading, "Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees.", asking themselves, What Does This Mean To Me?, will be unique answers, no matter the millions asking.
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Garden & Be Well, XOT
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