Great projects start out feeling like buildings. There are architects, materials, bricks, stuff and staff, set timelines, licenses and permits, engineers, a structure.

It either works or it doesn’t.

Build something that doesn’t fall down. On time.

But in fact, great projects, like great careers and relationships that last, are gardens not buildings.

They are tended, they shift, they grow.

They endure over time, gaining a personality and reflecting their environment.

You need to have patience to grow a garden, just like growing a great career or relationship.

You have to learn how to deal with things that are totally out of your control. Weather, bugs, weeds, annoying people, family members, the usual list.

If you don’t do the work, you don’t eat. Great careers or relationships work when you work on them.

It is hard to do it alone. You can do it alone, but it is so much lovelier if you can do it with others, whether it is your kids, partner, or friends.

Sometimes you have to let things go. Maybe it is a favorite tree that falls down in a storm, or another tree that grew to big for the space it was planted in.

When something dies or fades away, we prune, replant and grow again.

It is all about love. Ultimately, the rewards for gardening and living cannot be measured in time, money, or possessions. It is only about love. We do it for love. 

Perfection and polish are not nearly as important as good light, good drainage and a passionate gardener.

Great relationships are gardens, not buildings. They are grown not built.

They grow over time, they are not finished and complete like buildings.

They don’t have deadlines to complete, they are endlessly transforming season after season.

By all means, build. But don’t finish. Don’t walk away.

Here we grow.