It’s Nice to Be Asked to Say a Few Words…

Unsolicited opinions are everywhere.  Anyone who spends any time whatsoever on any social media platforms can vouch for this.  In fact, the operational dynamics of every single existing social media platform are based upon this fact: people have opinions and they want other people to know what they are.  

And really, my vocation as the publisher of, and substantially contributing writer for, this particular digital publication make me guilty of disseminating millions and millions of my own written words in entirely unsolicited fashion on a regular basis.  And some of those words find themselves getting strung together to form opinions.  It happens.  So, invariably, I’m just as guilty as anyone else of slinging around my very own thoughts about things.

In the world of the spoken word, it’s like this: Every once in a while, I’m actually asked to say a few words.  Public events, social gatherings, funerals, murder trials… the usual.  Am I anything special?  Are my accomplishments, my exploits, anything at all to rave about?  Generally speaking, nah and nope.  In fact, beyond the usual insights that your typical Homo sapiens gains from breathing fresh air for 61 years from the vantage point of planet Earth’s surface, I personally don’t believe my opinions, or what’s informed them, have any more value than anyone else’s.  Except maybe a kindergartener’s.  And that’s a big MAYBE.  (Because little kids’ brains are pretty damned amazing… keep reading and do some clicking and you’ll see what I mean… )

But it’s still nice to be asked.

I think it’s even nicer when I’m asked to say a few words and then put them in writing, and submit them to the individual who’s doing the asking and who’s also planning to publish them.  In a place where they can be read.  Widely.  Hey, this also happens.  And when it does, it feels pretty good – I feel, in these cases, like I’m not so much foisting my words on anyone (as I’m typically wont to do).

Now, after shoving (the foisting continues – oh, you’d better believe it does) all of the previous words in your direction, I’m finally at my point.  I was asked recently to write some words – the kind that get strung together to form an opinion – by the wonderful writer, Pablo Alvarez, for a piece he was putting together for The Redfin Blog about getting young kids involved with the activity of gardening.  Expressing my thoughts on this particular topic was particularly gratifying, not because I’m an expert (or worse, an expert looking for a soapbox), but because I remember what it was like to be a little guy – in fact, a kindergartener – who was enthralled watching the miraculous process of little seeds (marigold seeds and navy beans) developing root systems, sprouting stems, leaves, and even flowers, and turning into honest-to-goodness, living, breathing plants.  I’ll never forget what it did for both my budding (no pun intended) imagination and creativity, and for my burgeoning critical thinking and analytical skills.  The parallels between the development of marigold seeds and navy beans into plants, and the growth of my own young mind were inescapable.  Pablo’s article, and specifically, his invitation for me to opine under its auspices, presented me with a truly personally gratifying opportunity.  I thought that reflecting on my own youthful plant-growing experiences and framing them as a goodly suggestion might not be a bad thing for everyone involved – conscientious parents, Pablo, me, and, most importantly, the little would-be plant growers themselves.

Click here to read Pablo’s wonderful article, “Grow, Learn, Play: Hands-On Backyard Gardening Activities for Kids” (Pablo’s a terrific writer and he’s obviously an empathetic kind of guy, and I really dig that – again, I mean no pun), it’s filled with excellent suggestions from a number of talented and sagacious gardening folk for getting the little tykes into the act of growing stuff.  And somewhere in there, you’ll also find my opinion.  The solicited kind.

Cheers, and Happy Gardening!