Men, Gardening, and The Creative Imperative

About two years ago I was interviewed by a reporter from Salon.com asking for my thoughts about his father's obsession with his lawn. I gave a couple of brief quotes to the writer about creative expression in men and sort of forgot about it until this spring.

In late March I heard a few of my male patients off-handedly mention the lawn care commercials that they saw on the TV during the NCAA playoffs. I noticed it, but chalked it up to shared television experiences. But when two of my patients, both men working in the financial services industry, on the very exact same day described the exact same image of two hands making an offering of grass seed from a commercial in almost gratuitous detail I realized that something was going more was going on.

I re-read the article from Salon.com and thought. I realized that part of the reason why I was hearing more about men and their lawns was based in the numbers: I have more men in my practice, and more of these men live in the outer boroughs and the suburbs (i.e., places with lawns) and it is spring. But why the obsessing and grandeur in describing these hands with the seeds? Did I stumble upon some biological impulse that was being uniquely expressed by suburban males?

Actually, perhaps I did. These men, who were entranced by the seeds and focused on making their lawns things of beauty were expressing their creativity. I believe that all people were made to create. Creative expression has many paths and many of the people I see in my office express their creativity through the arts, the entrepreneurial spirit and/or their children. The impulse to express ourselves creatively is often suppressed once we leave childhood behind. This is especially true for men who don't consider themselves to be artistic. For these men, their front lawns have become the culturally sanctioned canvasses of their stifled creative souls.

By focusing on their lawns, men can simultaneously nurture their creative impulses, care for the growth of grass and plants and bring beauty into the world as a healthy and productive mode of self-expression. If you are one of these people, by all means indulge this instinct, just be wary of if/when it spills over into an obsession, so that you are no longer enjoying your creative process. If tending to the grass and plants becomes a tremendous chore and you find yourself gardening in your mind all day and creating plans for a large-scale assault on chipmunks, it may be time to pull back. Short of that, indulge yourself.

If gardening is not your thing, consider promoting this means for creative expression in a loved one. It does not need to be a man or a father. However, this father's day if you are thinking about buying him a tie, maybe instead consider getting him a trowel.