As I looked through the neatly organized plastic bin in my lap, I was reminded how much my mother-in-law loved to garden. There were dozens of baggies. Each containing several seed packets and each seed packet had a start date on it. They were grouped by the bed or pot or hanging basket they were going to grow in and bloom and look fabulous all summer. I did not need to know her to see her passion for growing things.
I also realized that may hold true for many of us. Our passion is there hiding in plain sight. Look past the clutter of the mundane and have-to-dos and you might spot the best organized, most shining arrow pointing the way.
The way my father kept his tools in designated spots (or at least he tried, he was dealing with several children untrained in the art of putting every screwdriver back in its place). My mother's sparkling kitchen with a place for everything and everything in its place. My father loved wood working and my mother loved both gardening and cooking. She filled notebooks with data about seeds she had tried, she kept several Roladex files filled with recipes she had made,
By similar token my mother-in-law also loved gardening and cooking. Her neat baggies were a tiny part of the system she had of grow lights for seed starts and carefully organized recipe cards and lists for every celebration meal she was planning. My Father-in-law keeps the neatest computer room I have every seen. And he spends many hours tinkering with family photos, making calendars and sending emails.
When I look through my life I see nothing quite as organized and neat their kitchens and I frankly apologize to my farming and gardening fore bearers, but I simply do not love the feeling of dirt under my nails or the bother of tending delicate young plants. I can and have grown many plants in my life, but not with the love they had.
If given the choice between a perfect kitchen, a well planned garden, a clean garage, or a craft room. I would choose the craft room. Even though my beads and fabric seem ill sorted right now; its as much a factor of space. But I know where everything is and I can pick up any of those raw materials and begin to mold and shape and string and bend and create my vision. Nope I can't narrow down my passion to the same degree as many. It is less defined than the labels of gardening, knitting, woodworking. Just creating and designing the next project are probably my passion.
