Aspirational vision needs a kinetic nudge from intolerable exasperation. In other words, we’re motivated by discomfort over ambition. What follows is magic.
For 22 years, tucked in the corner of our property, a dilapidated greenhouse waited to be restored.
Trivia: We live where Steve Miller grew up. The land’s musical past included Dr. George Miller’s fatherly green thumb. It once bloomed with geraniums and begonias. For 60 years, 🎶 time kept on slipping, slipping, slipping into 🎶 a rundown eyesore.
Why did it years to begin repair? A combination of exasperation and aspiration was needed.
Some will quote Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” What if the “dream” is overwhelming? What if there are other “To Do’s” that are less daunting? Then, as our human condition is wont to do, “Not Now” rules over months and years.
Far-away goals are realized when we combine a well-defined feeling of discomfort with compelling ambition. The discomfort was A Broken Glass Monstrosity. The aspirational objective was A Sustainability Redo (prioritizing salvaged materials).
Stages included:
- Months of cleanout. Stuff had to go somewhere
- A reclaimed shed – disassembled, moved, and rebuilt
- White Rock Tree Wizards removed a 40’ dying tree hanging over the greenhouse
- Replace the roof (a tall order given a sustainability project)
- Covered a 1,000 sqft cracked-concrete floor with 2,500 bricks sourced from the Nextdoor app
- Resurfaced a double door plus a chandelier from ReStore
- Piles of nail-filled wood from a White Rock Boat Club renovation
- Flagstone and 5” posts from local demolitions
- Timeworn, corrugated tin from farmers
- Cedar fence slats repurposed for stub walls
- Make three 26" citrus tree planter cubes and planter boxes made out of leftover salvaged wood
- Soil from compost.
It all took relentless effort.
Help from family and friends appeared when most needed. Today it’s a vegetable-producing gem plus a work in progress. It’s a reminder of frustration and ambition intersecting.
Magic happens when we combine exasperation with aspiration.
PS Glass Doctor Dallas, expect a call.
#projects #greenhouse #frustration #ambition #setbacktobreakthrough
