Indigo Iris and the small measurement of success
"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."
Orison Swett Marden.
There are so many quotes out there on success it's hard to find one that really captures the concept, I think this one is a good one. Written by the grandfather of personal help books nonetheless. I like this one because it does break it down to reflect the level at which you start. The Billionaires progeny who is given a fortune and quickly doubles it is a success, but so too is the immigrant who arrives with nothing and soon toils themselves into a middleclass existence with home in the suburbs in a good school district with a shopping mall close by. Clearly both are successful but one should be measured as an achievement far greater than the other.
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| Iris aucheri 'Indigo' blooming in the Greenhouse in Late January. The same rules as above seem to apply to plants. The person who starts with a six pack tray of Color Wave Petunia's in April and ends the summer with a glorious carpet of pink has achieved success. So too has the grower who started with a seed packet of a rare treasure, perhaps collected on a mt. pass in some far off land, they researched and studied its cultural requirements, mixed a handful of peat, with some stony grit and pumice to the loam to achieve a soil similar to the native soil, they watered it carefully. Tended it through the seedling stage and watched as it matured, protected it from slugs and pathogens and found the right place for it in the garden where the exposure to sunlight and rain would give it the best chances for survival. When the bloom finally comes maybe some 7 years later in the case of many of our bulbs, the grower has achieved success. They are both successful but they are not the same. Crocus angustifolius 'Cloth of Gold' To me this looks as good with the buds closed as it does open on a sunny day. I've been going through the motions of trying to dodge a mid-life crisis, and thinking a lot about success. The measurement of it seems to weigh heavy on me as I ponder half a life raising a family, building a career, accumulating the things in life that most people measure success by, IRA's and automobiles, Stock's and boats, real estate and awards. I was telling my daughter about how some people go through life with one job, maybe climbing the ladder to ultimately get to that corner office and managerial position and they never left the same office building. I've had a lot of different jobs and by the measurement of overcoming "opposition and struggling against overwhelming odds" I feel I have been successful at them all. But of course, society measures success differently than Mr. Marden does, it's really those that get to that corner office that are considered to be the successful ones. In reality, look at the fed ex delivery driver out on a sunny day cruising around the neighborhood bringing joy to the customers they serve. That's a success, measured with much less obstacles and odds to overcome. The career built trying to achieve something meaningful can feel oh so empty without a sense of purpose or an engaging reason to get up and go make donuts, or widgets or deliver subsidies. Perhaps, the success in that might lie in the avoidance of obstacles, and the dodging of opposition.  The last few years I have really tried to separate the career from the ball and chain that pays the bills. I think this is especially important as we get older in life and the obstacles seem to come more like a tidal wave these past few years. Especially as I've had to make some career moves that at times have taken me further and further from the true calling. The people in charge can make or break a job for the employee, fostering creativity and keeping employees engaged in the day to day is a necessary component of leadership and to be successful the managers need the employees to be successful or else the pyramid topples from the base. It wasn't the pharaohs that built the pyramids, it was the slave labor. I appreciate the articles I've read lately about the great resignation that has taken place, as the midlevel and lower workers said they've had enough of managements abuses especially in light of the covid years and the everyday reminders of mortality. If you aren't doing what you love, you better be getting paid a hell of a lot to do it. The days of the pharaoh's whips are hopefully coming to an end, and todays empire is always tomorrow's ashes. Especially when you throw rampant inflation in the mix, the tinder keg is set. Just some random thoughts that have run through my head as I walked around the nursery and gardens on a beautiful sunny January day. It was 27 degrees this am, but when the fog burned off it hit a balmy 54. Spring is waiting for us around the corner now. Mark |