i love to mow the lawn. it truly is one of my favorite activities-- as is yard work in general. this evening was the first time i've mowed this year and i've missed it. you may be wondering who actually yearns to mow a lawn? this girl does. and i'll tell you a little story to illustrate why.
it was a dreary thursday in early spring during my (1st) senior year at byu. i'd just bombed a test and i was distraught. i'd studied really hard and thought i understood the material, but my score suggested otherwise. in my distress, i drove up to my parents' house and found my dad out in the orchard pruning the fruit trees. wanting to help, i started to pick up the fallen branches and stack them neatly in the wheelbarrow. i ended up spending a good few hours out in that orchard and experienced the realization of why i enjoyed picking up sticks/mowing the lawn/yard work so much: because it's simple. my grades didn't depend on how well i put the sticks in the wheelbarrow. it didn't require hours and hours of studying. it was even really possible to fail: you pick up the stick. you put it in the wheelbarrow. repeat. you pull a weed. put it in the bucket. repeat. you push the lawn mower to one end of the yard. turn it around. and push it back. it's not rocket science. which is precisely why it is so wonderful.
as i've gotten older and life has become much more complicated (and i'm sure will continue to do so), i've found solace in the straight foward, repetitive tasks. it's why i was drawn to swimming in my younger years. it's why i love running so much today. it's why i love mowing the lawn. and cleaning up fallen branches. i've even come to enjoy weeding.
some may call these activities tedious and mundane, but i find them all therapeutic. for in those few moments, the mind quiets, problems seem to dissipate, and life becomes as simple as picking up a stick.
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