Kelly Klobucher | Museum Executive | Cultural Tourism Strategist | Non-Profit Leader

Resilience : A Lesson from My Garden

I have had a lot of extra time to spend in my garden this year.

Since starting my own business I have created an outdoor office in a quiet corner of my garden. I am able to work, write and THINK in the personal paradise I have worked over the past eleven summers to build.

While I am occasionally distracted by a weed or two-that sometimes MUST be pulled before I can do anything else-I find that gardening is a great cure for writers block. I get some of my very best ideas when I am in the garden. I think it has to do with my mind focusing on the plants and soil instead of trying to solve a problem. The garden provides a respite, from which I return to look at things with a fresh perspective.

This spring a flower started growing in a crack in the driveway right in front of the garage door. I pulled it and the root was attached. Score! Free plant! I replanted it a few feet away. It has flourished in its new location.

Soon after relocating the plant, I returned from a trip and saw that it started growing out of the crack in the driveway again. I run it over every time I enter or exit the garage-sometimes several times a day. It survives and now has two blooms.

Every day it reminds me of a few things:

Always stand your ground.

Bloom wherever you are planted.

Find a buddy to stand with you.

Be strong. Be resilient. Be stubborn.

Drink enough water and spend some time in the sun.

Even if you get knocked down or run over a couple of times a day, keep getting up.

*The plant is called Rudbeckia. My grandmother called them “Black eyed Susan” and had them in her cottage garden when I was a kiddo. Some people call them a “weed,” but I don’t. I have several variety in my yard. They are have sunny, happy faces and add a lot of color. Bees and butterflies love them.