Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I’ve very belatedly become a fan of Dominique Browning, the editor-in-chief of the now defunct House & Garden magazine. I picked up her book, Paths of Desire: The Passions of a Suburban Gardener
(published 2005) at the library, on a whim, (You can do that to your heart’s content when the books are free!) – and am now rationing myself to delay as long as possible coming to the end.

The prospect of getting into my comfy bed, fluffing the pillows and reading a bit more of Ms. Browning’s trials and truimphs in gardening makes me smile throughout the day. It’s a small thing, granted, but it’s the small things that make life worthwhile.

This morning, I dug through my pile of old magazines to find some of the H&Gs I’ve kept for ideas for my home and garden. I’d never paid much attention to the editor’s column – anxious to get to the pretty pictures and articles. But, now that I’ve become a fan of Ms. Browning, I’m glad I kept those magazines. This from her column in the January 2002 issue:

“All houses, all rooms, all gardens, have prospect; there are views all around us, if we simply take the trouble to pay attention, notice them, capture them, preserve them.

And then there is prospect as expectation. I see a life with prospect as a life with hope. A larger kind of view We have a choice about how to live. It does matter what direction we face.”

Indeed. I believe – barring truly apocalyptic events – we can choose to have prospects. We can choose to see life as full of possibilities. We can choose to live each day, and not huddle in dread of the endings that come to us all.

Last week, I attended the Habitat for Humanity fundraiser – ran into an old friend of mine I hadn’t seen in months. Her husband, a tough (and dashing) WWII veteran, has been battling cancer for a while now. He recently found out the cancer is still there and he needs to go back to chemotherapy. The doctor gives him a 50/50 chance of reaching his 90th birthday (next year). But, the former bomber pilot (30+ missions over Germany), true to form, refuses to let this get him down. His brother is being inducted into the Western Hall of Fame next month – and he’s not starting chemo until he gets back from the event. “I want to go to the party with what little hair I have left.” He’s focusing on the joy of prospects, the experience of living.

Me? As I type this, I’m looking out onto yet another glorious New Mexico day dawning over the mountains (Glad I bought a house that faces east!) Full of prospects, for everything from my awakening garden to my ever-evolving business.

Now, why are you still sitting there? Go look for and develop your prospects!

P.S. I’m betting on the bomber pilot beating those odds…which are likely better than he had for returning from most of his combat missions.

If you got something from this post, please consider making a donation to Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity (or the Habitat group in your area.)

Tags: Mary Schmidt, Dominique Browning, perspective, prospects