There are days when the world seems too big and we too small. The news weighs on us, worries pile up and we do not know where to begin. In 1759 a French philosopher gave a surprisingly simple answer.
That year Voltaire published Candide, a short and fierce novel. Young Candide, raised on his teacher Pangloss’s idea that «all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds», goes through wars, shipwrecks and betrayals. In the end he finds himself with his companions on a small farm and, to Pangloss’s usual rhetoric, replies with a simple phrase: we must cultivate our garden.
Critics have argued for centuries about what he meant. Some read the phrase as a withdrawal from the world, others as an invitation to improve it through concrete work, one piece at a time. Some see in it a tribute to the Encyclopédie enterprise, others a way to beat boredom and provide for basic needs. Perhaps the strength of the phrase lies exactly here: it does not promise to save the world, but it shows where to start.
Gardening, taken literally, has some support in research. A meta-analysis by Masashi Soga, Kevin Gaston and Yuichi Yamaura, published in Preventive Medicine Reports, brought together 22 studies with 74 comparisons between people who gardened and people who did not: gardeners showed less depression and anxiety and a lower body mass index, with greater life satisfaction, quality of life and sense of community. The authors note, however, a possible publication bias: results stayed positive after statistical correction, but they should be read with caution.
The «garden» can be a pot of basil on the balcony, but also a relationship to nurture, a task to finish, a corner of the house to tidy. The trick is to choose a small, concrete piece and tend it regularly, even just ten minutes a day. It does not erase the big worries, but it can restore a sense of having a little control and of being useful to something and someone.
And you, what is your garden today? Tell me in the comments: it can be an aromatic herb or a project, a phone call or a desk to tidy.
Sources
- Voltaire (1759), Candide, ou l’Optimisme.
- «Candide», Wikipedia (publication date and critical interpretations of the ending).
- Soga M., Gaston K.J., Yamaura Y. (2017). Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine Reports, 5, 92-99 (published online in 2016).
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