Taking Care of My Garden

In Candide, Voltaire, French eighteenth-century author, tells of a naive young man who is required to travel the world due to unfortunate circumstances.  He was raised with the optimistic premise that human beings are governed by their common sense. But as he travels the world he constantly sees things that just make no sense.  Principles, which proclaim to serve the good of all, obviously serve only the few, or in some cases lead to the doom of all. When he asks why people would behave in a manner which is causing pain and sorrow for all to see, they explain to him the necessity of adhering to principles. 

I relate to Voltaire in a couple of ways.  First, I share the commitment to rejecting principles when they are contradicted by reality.  Secondly, I share the frustration with people, and it often seems to be most people, who seem so oblivious to the reality which seems so obvious to me.

In the end, when the character named Candide, arrives back home, he resolves not to concern himself with fixing the world, and to just focus on his garden. The peace one gets from working in the garden is the ultimate contrast with the nerve-wrecking frustration of a political conversation. Of course, the garden is a metaphor for family, friends and the things intimate to you.