A Garden Called Self-Actualization

Abstract

Words on street corners instruct us on how to care for our flowers. However, the distribution of fertilizer and water is uneven. Many voices urge us to bloom, but differences in soil depth and sunlight exposure are ignored. This paper uses small everyday scenes as a clue to quietly demonstrate how words create expectations and conceal actual care.

Keywords

Self-Actualization, Discourse, Institutions, Observation of the Everyday

A Story of the Garden

On a corner of the street, there is a small community garden. The sign reads, "Make Your Own Flowers Bloom." Anyone can bring seedlings and grow them however they like. Every morning, passersby echo the words. Some buy seeds, others bring old pots. The sign's message is simple. But a look at the garden reveals differences in how identical seedlings thrive. Shady patches, easily drier soil, neighbors who water frequently. Words promise equality, but reality is anything but.

Fertilizer Distribution

Below the sign is a small box filled with fertilizer, ostensibly as a donation. Donations are optional, but fertilizer is expensive. Wealthy residents bring their own fertilizer and apply it frequently. Busy residents don't have time to water the plants, causing them to wilt. The words on the sign offer encouragement but make no mention of how to distribute the fertilizer or water. Encouragement encourages action, but there are other conditions for the action to bear fruit. Many overlook these conditions.

Visible Success and Invisible Benefits

People passing by on the street take photos of blooming flowers and tell them as success stories. Photographs create a narrative. However, photos don't capture the source of the fertilizer or the daily labor involved. Success stories are short and concise, often narrating stories of hard work. Stories of hard work inspire listeners to believe they can do it, too. This leads many to try the same thing using old pots and limited time. However, the results vary. The important thing here is that effort is a necessary, not sufficient, condition. If effort alone were enough to make flowers bloom, gardens would bloom uniformly, but this is not the case.

A false promise = word spread ÷ actual care

The Last Pot

One day, the garden manager made a small change. Instead of adding "Make your own flowers bloom," he posted a sign with instructions on how to distribute fertilizer. But the paper was thin and the letters were small. Many passersby took photos without reading it and repeated the original instructions. A few years later, the garden was divided into two: one well-tended, the other prone to withering. The words on the sign remained the same, and the photo reflected the former. Soon, new residents arrived, trusting only the words on the sign and bringing in seedlings. They tried to make the flowers bloom with their own hands. But the depth of the soil and the amount of sunlight remained the same. The words gave hope, but care was required.

The ending was quiet. The sign was still there, the words unchanged. The photos multiplied, the story spread. In one corner of the garden, a man carrying an old pot quietly digs through the soil. He's not looking for fertilizer; he's measuring the depth of the soil and considering how to avoid the shade. Words gave him power, but he wasn't satisfied with just words. Soon a small sprout would appear, but whether that sprout would change the whole garden is another matter.