Leading an Inspired Life
Matching daily routine to passions.
Is anything that makes you happy, good? Positive behaviors are subject to Immanuel Kant’s test that asks how things might be if we all did it. This powerful trick succinctly demonstrates how a singular way of being might reshape the world.
Consider the impact of merging work and play. Take cement, a staple ingredient in concrete; how might its production lead to fifty four acres of glorious gardens? It begins with a marriage…
Jennie and Robert Butchart acquired the recipe for “Portland cement” on their honeymoon. Robert’s role as Managing Director of the Vancouver Portland Cement Company required a relocation to Tod Inlet. These decisions would connect the lives of millions of people.
The Butchart family named their home Benvenuto, or “Welcome” in Italian. Jennie, having completed a chemistry certificate, worked for her husband’s company as a chemist. The company flourished as development spilled across the West Coast, generating massive demand for the cement they formulated.
Behind their family home, the cement plant exhausted limestone from a quarry. Jennie first attempted to hide the unsightly pit with tall flowers and other plantings. She later organized the delivery of topsoil by horse and cart. Robert lent machines and laborers as the project expanded.
The sunken gardens drew thousands, then tens of thousands, and eventually hundreds of thousands. Tea service, Japanese and Italian gardens, fountains, and festive holiday and musical events have graced the grounds for decades. The aged cement plant became a decaying husk for ‘The Butchart Gardens,’ deemed a National Historic Site in 2004.
Why should we care? Perhaps to learn what pioneers would do today.
The Butchart family hosted visitors with tea in a beautiful setting, connecting with more people in a month than some might in a lifetime.
The energies we experience reflect how we make others feel. Kindness draws people in like nothing else. I long to find my tea garden with friends and strangers, seeking answers while walking the path together.
What places and people in your community inspire you? Share them with us below.