Here's the other part of my conflict: I'm a much better VIRTUAL gardener than I am a real-life gardener. Check out my FarmTown farm on Facebook:
On Facebook, I have an orchard, plenty of fields to plant seeds in, and aminals! Virtual gardening is easy-peasy...I don't have to water the plants, feed the soil my very own secret-recipe animal dropping cocktail, or grapple with rooty, assertive weedlings. All I have to do is add the FarmTown App to my Facebook account, and click a few buttons every day or so. The veggies and fruits are BEAUTIFUL, but I find myself somehow unfulfilled by them. Perhaps it's because I can only look at their virtual loveliness. I find myself wanting to nibble at my computer screen. Is that abnormal?
Really, what I'm getting down to is a subject that Elder Bednar talked about in his CES Fireside earlier this month. His talk was entitled "Things As They Are," and it made me take a break from my virtual gardening to make a quick inventory of the time I spend outside of church activities and my 40-hour-ish work week.
I have aspirations to become a gardener, and the gene that produces green thumbs is prevalent in my familial gene pool. What, then, is stopping me from pursuing that goal? Sad to say...I haven't spent time getting dirt under my fingernails because I've been taking care of a garden where real soil cannot and should not exist under any circumstances. :) In fact, the internet sucks up much more of my time than I care to admit. How many books could I have read in that time? How many hours could I have spent with friends and family, or doing service for others? Really, folks, it's time that I separate myself from the virtual world a bit more, so that I can partake in the glories of the real world. It's time to get out there and get dirty!
Do I think it's wrong to be part of the FarmTown App on Facebook? Certainly not...as long as it is in moderation. So perhaps after I've tended my REAL garden (which will consist of tomatos, peppers, and cabbage for starters), I will wash my hands and treat myself to the immediate successes that always greet me when I visit my virtual garden.
