Assignment: Create five frameworks about your life, one in each category: elemental, temporal, relational, modal and attitudinal.

1. my gardening experience
Lisa Woods, Theory of Interaction, CCA, Spring 2012

2. elemental temporal relational modal attitudinal
All gardens have a story, but it is one without
an absolute beginning or an absolute end...
a garden’s basic components:
inherited
weeds
tree moss
size
large, patchy brown lawn
climate
neglect
broken sprinkler system
large trees
shallow tree roots
location
trees next foundation
nutrient-poor soil
contributed
ornamental plants compost area
pruned, moss-free trees functioning sprinkler system
care
vegetable and herb garden stone walkway
nutrient-rich soil trellis with flowering vine

3. g a r d e n i n g e x p e r i e n c e f l o w:
A garden should not be completed in one season. Each annual
iteration allows close observation and contemplation.
landscaping cycle:
mental
engagement
assess
maintain research
shape visualize
add plan
physical remove
engagement
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything
that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.” —May Sarton
elemental temporal relational modal attitudinal

4. garden as a system:
A complex system of relationships exists in a garden. Here we see the
interrelationship between me, 2 animals, 2 “waste products”, and 2 plants.
landscaping cycle:
bees
neighbor’s dog
flowers
dog’s waste
Me
trees
compost
benefit harm neutral creates
“Eat honey my child, for it is good.”
—Proverbs 24:13
elemental temporal relational modal attitudinal

5. m e n ta l s tat e s
about garden:
“A garden is to be a world unto itself, it had better make room for the
darker shades of feeling as well as the sunny ones.”—William Kent
positive feelings
affectionate
mindful
inquisitive
indifferent
seduced
subordinate
combative
negative feelings
elemental temporal relational modal attitudinal

6. m y va r i o u s at t i t u d e s
t o wa r d g a r d e n i n g :
“Gardens are a form of autobiography.”
—Sydney Eddison
focused on activity
“designer gardener” “hippy gardener”
intrinsically motivated gardening as recreation
flow state opportunity to socialize
creative self-expressive act catch as catch can
lots of work in little work in
garden garden
“yuppie gardener” “outsourcing gardener”
externally motivated
gardening is chore
gardening as neurotic act
merely a to-do activity
garden as product
focused on outcome
elemental temporal relational modal attitudinal