Assignment 8 - Dani Fauzi

Writing Territories

List:
Fears - disappointing loved ones
Annoyances - the cold, discussion devolving into chaos at philosophy club
Accomplishments - I made a zine… once, big long bean harvest this year
Confusions - religion, why does anything matter
Sorrows - widening income inequality, abuses of human rights
Dreams - college, retreating into nature, raising chickens or goats

Idiosyncrasies - gardening
Risks - defying family’s cultural mores
Beloved Possessions, Now and Then - deluxe crayola crayon set (then), friendships (now - cheesy? I think not)
Problems - organization, time management, lack of self -confidence and -esteem

In our backyard, my family keeps a small garden. This year, we’re growing swamp cabbage, long beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant. I value the moments I spend in the garden. All the careful planting of seeds saved from the previous year’s harvest and straining over to wrestle weeds out of the earth is worth it when we get to reap the fruit of our toil.

Working in the garden is relaxing, it’s a welcome reprieve from worldly duties like homework. When I garden I’m focusing on securing sustenance for myself and my family. The process of planting and harvesting is reassuringly simple, far from the complexities of relationships or schoolwork. I’m not being graded on anything, but the ability to fulfil at least part of my family’s nourishment from food I had a hand in raising is wildly fulfilling. I planted it, I tended to it, I consumed it. Nothing is simpler than that.