Mediocre

Today has been a day of mediocrity for me.  It seems like everything I've done is neither good nor bad, but just middle of the road.  Meh.

Now there are things that I am good at (like writing...and I hope you agree on that).  There are things that I am BAD at (just about any sport...I'm just not athletic).  There are also plenty of things that I am mediocre at.  (Perhaps grammar might be one of those things?  How many sentences just ended in a preposition?)

Just this morning, I got caught up in a web of mediocrity that I couldn't seem to shake off.  It started after my morning walk.  Yesterday a friend of mine, who is an avid gardener was "thinning her berry bushes. Who knew that was a thing? I think her blood runs green and not red.  She is a passionate environmentalist (although I think the two words go hand in hand) and LIVES her passion.  She offered to share her plants with anyone who wanted some.

I love berries, but I am a mediocre gardener.  I mean well; truly I do.  I have tried to start plants indoors and then put them outside; this is where they either die or get eaten. (My neighborhood is rife with bunnies, squirrels, deer, etc.  all of which LOVE to munch on whatever is available to them.)  I have managed to come to a place where I DON'T kill plants (indoors) and even remembered to water and care for two tomato plants that my father provided last year.  (To be fair, he gave them to me when they were already quite well grown and in pots with stakes.  All I had to do was water them and pick the fruit.  One of them did quite well; the other not so much.  My father is a true gardener and bordered on farmer status when he was younger and had a tract of land on which beautiful flowers and vegetables grew.  Today, he still grows the best tomatoes and cucumbers out there. I did not inherit his green thumb.)

Back to the topic at hand, berry plants.  This friend was good enough to bring plants last night by AND provide direction on what to do.  I wanted to get them into the ground, but it wasn't going to happen last night.  This morning after my walk seemed like a good time.  I would be in dirty workout/walking clothes.  All I needed to do was dig some holes in the backyard and I'd be good. Easy enough, right?

I went and got gloves (necessary for all the thorns) and a trowel (be impressed that I have not one, but two in my basement).  Along with the plants, I went deep into the backyard.  (We have a small house but a BIG, hilly yard.)  I found a spot where I felt that they might grow well.  (In an area suggested by my friend, who had picked berries from this very yard in her youth when the property was owned by my grandparents.)  Got down on my knees (maybe I should have brought something to kneel on?) and tried to dig that 4 inch hole that she had suggested.  Maybe I'm a bad digger?  Maybe I needed better tools?  Even though I was digging in a damp area, I was definitely not getting a nice hole.  I was hampered by small rocks, determined roots and dirt that just didn't want to move.  I moved onto another spot and ran into the same issues.  Somehow, I managed to dig mediocre holes (bordering on pretty lousy) and put the plants in.  I tamped them down so that (hopefully) nothing will dig them up and will water them later today or tomorrow.  (If I remember!  I think part of my mediocrity is due to the fact that I try to juggle too many things and then forget "little" details, like watering plants!)  If they grow, I will be thrilled. If they don't...

But gardening was not the only activity this morning where my mediocrity shown through, as I prepared to get dressed for work, I was unable to find the pair of pants that matched the top that I was wearing.  As I wrote in an earlier post (http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/promises-to-keep-week-of-no-skirts-and.html), I really do need to get my closet better organized.  Our home is not one with big (or many) closets and if I am honest with myself, I have more clothes that are truly needed.  That coupled with the fact that I store almost all of my clothes in one closet (no place to rotate seasonal items), even with the best intentions (and I always DO have good intentions), the closet becomes a mishmash of items.

Even though I was running a bit late, I remember another friend of mine who had spent part of her spring vacation organizing not only her closet, but the closets (and rooms) of her two young children.  She had posted photos of her work and let me tell you she would put Martha Stewart to shame; only she's not only a mom and teacher, but a marathoner and political activist.  Yes, she is Superwoman in my book and inspired by her work (which took place over several days during the week), I started to reorganize my closet, not just so I could find the pants (which I did), but so that winter clothes would be off to the sides (where they are darned near impossible to reach) and spring/summer clothes would.  In the process, items were sliding off hangers. In my haste, I quickly hung everything back up (in a mediocre way...items were hanging, but definitely not in a crisp, clean way) and mostly put cold weather items to the far left (where they won't be reached again until I am desperate for them in the fall) and the warmer weather items in the center.  The upshot of this being the closet is SLIGHTLY better organized than it was when I started, but still needs some serious work.  (So that dresses go together, then blouses, etc.)  Truth be told, even when (if?) I get the time to arrange all this, my closet will never look photo worthy (and I'm not even commenting on the bottom of the closet or the shoe rack on the door where pairs hang precariously before inevitably falling on my head while I am searching for something.)  When it comes to closet organization, I am mediocre.

Which brings me to my last task to the morning before heading out the door; actually getting dressed.  I usually pull out what I'm going to wear the night before so that mornings aren't so crazy.  (Getting my son and myself out the door by 7:25 most days means that craziness abounds!)  But some days, it just doesn't work.  What I plan looks good on the hanger, but just doesn't cut it on me.  Of course it's not just the outfit, but the whole "look."  When it comes to being put together, I am mediocre on most days.  Sure I look ok, but I'm not like a friend I have who ALWAYS has it all together.  Outfit, hair, make-up, jewelry; she is flawless.  Least you think it's something that money can buy; I've seen her in jeans and a man's shirt and she STILL looks great. It's not that she's drop dead gorgeous. (Although she IS a very attractive woman, and that attractiveness comes from the inside and not just out.)  She just knows how to get the whole "thing" together.  For the life of me, I can't figure it out.  I'm not a slob (although I can be), but when it comes to being well groomed, I'm just mediocre.

I'm not being humble on any of the above.  The truth is, in these three realms (as well as plenty of others), I am mediocre.  IF I put time and dedication into at least two of them, I could probably rise above mediocrity.  Or maybe not.  Mediocrity is nothing to brag about, but it isn't anything to complain about either.  It makes us human.  We all have talents and passions.  Those are the things we work at and are good at.  We all have things we dislike and try to avoid doing.  Those are generally things that we are NOT good at.  Then there are those "middle of the road" things; the place where mediocrity lies.  And that's okay.  Everyone is mediocre at something (and probably more than that).  As humans we have the chance to work to get better at those things or just let it go.  Either way, it's okay.  Take it from this mediocre gardener and closet organizer...its okay. For everything that you are mediocre or bad at, there are plenty of other things at which you excel.  It's part of life and that's okay.