Heidegger 'thinks of care as the basic constitutive phenomenon of human experience.'
p. 290
LOVE and WILL by Rollo May
What does care for a garden mean? By Frank La Rosa Mazza
Most people in suburbia want the status, ownership (possession) and luxury of owing a house that is situated on a large enough piece of land to grow a garden. They want to be the quintessential Willy Loman who follows the American dream. But, they, unlike, Willy, don't care about maintaining a garden, or what that even means and they live in houses that today cost two to three million plus.
Nor do some homeowners care about living things that come along with the material possession of a home with a back and front yard. The plants were 'popped in' by the builders. So, it would probably be best for society and the few noncaring homeowners in mindless, middleclass America to live in apartments or highrise condos where you can't open the windows for the spring breezes, hear the birds singing, nor walk bare foot on the grass, and you have to call the garage valet to get out your car out to drive. Prison?
Nevertheless, status, as a result of owning that house in suburbia, is indelibly stained into the middleclass mindset. And it is a good thing for a lot of us. But for some, owning is a powerful hierarchical obsession, for those who think they have made it, (moved on up) risen up in the affluent push button tech world. And, they don't mind shelling out a lot of money, and not taking personal, down to earth care of their gardens. I like getting my hands into the rich earth that I have made from my own compost. And, if they do care a little bit, to save face among their neighbors, they gladly pay the " mow and blow" so-called 'gardeners' who are further proof of material status. These "mow and blow" guys never use a rake, touch the earth, or plant in the earth, and they blow allergenic, toxic dirt and dust into the air. Their blowers make an inordinate obnoxious noise, (like grunting bulls) especially when one is listening to music!
Yes, there are those who can't because of serious reasons give care to a garden. I am aware of that.
But, on my daily walks through my suburban neighborhood, I observe many examples of the lack of care for living plants, trees and birds. The gardens are sere, dry, and almost dead. These gardens are a symbolic microcosmic proof of the deficit of love and care for the planet Earth. The Green Earth upon which we all live and depend, and love. What I sometimes see on my walks is often similar to walking into an office (even a medical office) and seeing unwatered, dying plants. And nobody cares!
We are defined by what we care about. Soren Kierkegaard called this Sorge the Danish word for Care. I don't trust people who allow their plants to dry up and die. This makes me wonder what else they allow to die.
Even the people keep an African violet or a philodendron on a windowsill have Care. They have kindness.
Frank La Rosa Mazza
26 November 2021.
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