twenty-one :: cultivate/cultivation

barely in time for a monday night posting [thank you pacific time]

today marks the return of shari and my documentary project.

shari chose the word today - cultivate or cultivation.

SHARI'S RESPONSE

cultivation:

i chose the word this week one day as i was sitting in my study looking
out the window at our garden.

note: you may need to click out of a reader to see this video clip::



i love this word. how it rolls off the tongue. how it sounds like hard
work and it is!


cultivate

walking in the rain.

currently:
am trying to cultivate a playful approach to life. sometimes, i fear i
take things far too seriously.


what are you trying to cultivate in your own life?

MY RESPONSE

cultivate_one

this word at first seemed really daunting to me. how do you represent this word in a static image?

of course i thought of planting. getting the soil ready for plants. i started to think about how you can take a garden in various directions. you can cultivate for food, you can cultivate for decoration.

cutlivate_three

how if you are serious about the idea of growing you actually pay attention to soil, to the sun, to PH, to all of these very small details that can make or break your attempt to foster plants.

or how you can also just wing it and magically things will thrive and grow.

cultivate_four

how sometimes if you try too hard it doesn't work..... you can't cultivate.

cultivate_two

above is my recent japanese print love. the magazine ku:nel . i think it was bluelines that sparked my interest in it.... it's really a great visual treat.... and made me

start wonder about other things we cultivate - like taste in art, or food, or poetry or??? how exactly do we plow, amend and ready our minds and hearts for cultural cultivation? in my role as an educator i'm constantly wondering how to do this - how do you cultivate a love for art? can you? or do you want/can it be something that spontaneously emerges?

and so i repeat shari's question. what are we all trying to cultivate in our lives??

Comments

Diane Dehler said…
I love words too and I use to play with them instead of colors as a child. One of my favorites was umbrella and as an adult I adored parapluie.

The thing I try to cultivate is awareness but, Princes Haiku knows that this is difficult and requires much attention. Wishing you well and a happy all hallows.
Anonymous said…
Fantastic as always guys. Love the view of your garden Shari and both your thoughts on this word. I love that Shari is cultivating a playful approach to life, as it's one of the things I'm always trying to work on. xo lj
Susan Schwake said…
lovely thoughtful post lisa... i try to cultivate peace daily in my life and the lives which connect with me. for me, finding peace directly facilitates the creative workings - inside.
Anonymous said…
i need to take shari's lead and laugh at life more often.
i'm hoping if i find some ways to cultivate my interests here in denver the laughing process will come more naturally...
i think an issue of ku:nel might help too. :)
Anonymous said…
Cultivating:
a breathe, a moment.
a thought to respond to to stop, and listen.
without guilt.

Cultivating:
magic :)
shari said…
i really like your images for this word and your idea that trying too hard prevents cultivation. ku:nel is a favorite magazine of mine, though i can hardly find it. xox
bugheart said…
it's funny,
as a biologist,
the first thing
that comes
to my mind
is not nature
but rather
to cultivate
a friendship
or
to cultivate
an appreciation...
i agree
with shari-
it's sounds like
a lot
of work...
and it is...
so difficult
to cultivate
many things
in one's life
like
handling
many crops.
fascinating post
as usual girls!
MWM said…
This is an interesting word. The idea that you need to plan or think ahead...but the word cultivation sounds so much more beautiful than that. It implies a thoughtfulness.
I love shari's blurred photo (of course) and Lisa's response makes me think of my approach to parenting -I just wing it and they still seem to thrive and grow.
Anonymous said…
Ooh a hard word to work with..love the peek into Sharis garden and your thoughts..I also like Marthas response.
amisha said…
love martha's thoughts that cultivation implies thoughtfulness, careful consideration. i think of cultivation as something that necessarily implies slowness... steady growth, some steps back (that would be my brown thumb :) ) but in the end forward. right now i am trying to cultivate presence in the now, quiet, some kind of peace in the eye of the storm.
xox

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