What are You Growing in the Garden of Your Mind?

     My studio’s a hot mess right now. New work and ideas are slowly coming around. Staying grateful, open-minded, and kindhearted as the world feels faster and meaner is a priority. 
     Our garden's bounty, and Arts and PBS funding cuts have me thinking a lot about perspective and Mr. Rogers' quote: “You can grow ideas in the garden of your mind.” It sounds simple, even cutesy, but the more I sit with it, the more powerful it feels. As an lifelong gardener, I love the idea that our minds are like gardens. What we choose to plant, water, weed, and pay attention to ends up shaping how we move through the world.
     Belief systems — the kind that prescribe rules and answers for us —can feel comforting, especially in uncertain times. These days, it feels like we're giving up curiosity for convenience, and replacing critical thinking with rubber stamps and echo chambers. 
     This kind of dogma—whether political, cultural, or religious has a way of making us feel safe. But that safety comes at the cost of asking hard questions. We stop asking because someone already gave us the answers. Asking can even become dangerous.
     So we stop growing.
    Curiosity has always been one of my superpowers — mostly from the angle of wanting answers. I've been shifting that as I age, learning to ask more “what ifs” and “whys” and being fine with not having answers. It feels like I'm learning to be present, and not needing to know or be right all the time. Frankly, that's a relief.
     Maybe it's why this garden metaphor really resonates with me. It reminds me that we each get to choose and nurture what grows in the garden of our mind. At least for now.  We can continuously feed our roots with rich, organic ideas, new perspectives, and love. Or we can take the manufactured path, and broadcast spray with marketed fertilizers and herbicides that  offer quick results, profit others, and are not in our own best interest.
    Using Mr. Rogers' metaphor: I'm curious and excited to learn about how you plant and tend your garden. Just don't push me do the same in mine. The world thrives on  a rich assortment of fertile gardens. 

Studio News:
I'm honored and delighted to have my work selected for the show, “Drawing Resistance: The Artist’s Dilemma in Political Conflict,” a group exhibition by Woman Made Gallery in Chicago. "In a world increasingly shaped by political unrest, censorship, and global crises, artists are often confronted with a critical question: What is my responsibility in the face of conflict?"  See the painting and read my statement: https://womanmade.org/artwork/michelle-louis/

View my 2025 solo exhibition, "Rounding the Light" 

See my other new paintings here.

"You Can Grow Ideas in the Garden of Your Mind" 24H x 18W x !.5D on cradled natural wood. Michelle Louis, 2025. Tap image for price and details.