Without a pathway, things will become much more difficult. Think about the hiking trail on the mountain, think about that trail without a pathway. I am busy writing my course for the philosophy module I am teaching, and the most important thing for the presentation is making clear the pathway I am making, or on which I will lead them. The same with the garden. One cannot make a garden without a pathway.
After good winter rain, the summer growth is amazing in the garden. The pathways have grown shut. I am partly to blame as I did not have time to clear them. I am only halfway now. It is crazy how much work such a small-scale garden can be.
Interestingly, philosophically speaking, a pathway can also mean a method. One's method in some sense is a pathway, a path toward the finding, a repeatable step one can take over and over again. A pathway cannot be fluid, it is a fixed and rigid thing one will take over and over, every day the same. A method is similar. Baking a cake will always be the same, there will be variables one can change to some degree, but the method remains largely unchanged. Like a pathway.
Too much growth can cover the pathway; too much thinking can hamper a method. One needs to cut open, take away, clear, and expose. What remains underneath and hidden is not meant to be covered, it needs to see sunlight. The pathway needs to be taken. To be walked on.
Before cutting away, there is too much, it is too busy, there is no structure, there is only fluid, chaos.
After cutting there is structure, chaos is gone, and there is order. Let there be light, let there be order. Growth is good, but not when it covers what needs to be opened up.
Cutting remains a violent act, a murder with scissors. But it is important, to promote new growth, to provide food for the compost, and to uncover. But it remains violent. The blood of innocent plants, the stain on my fingers. I really do not like to cut plants. But I know it needs to be done in some circumstances.
Not all is lost; most of the cuttings will turn into new plants; most of the rest will feed the hungry compost. Tomorrow, new plants will grow from the death of today.
This post turned out way more philosophical than I thought it would be. I hope you enjoyed it. These thoughts can be fun, they can keep one up at night, but they can broaden your horizon and world. I hope you enjoyed it.
All of the images are my own, taken with my iPhone. The musings are also my own. Happy gardening, and stay well.
