Sue Stuart-Smith is an author and prominent psychotherapist who believes gardening can help us process our thoughts and feelings. In her popular book, “The Well-Gardened Mind,” she describes the garden as a powerful space that mirrors our inner world. As we tend to the plants, we tend to ourselves. Within this mindset, the act of sowing and caring for a seed is also a hopeful investment in our own future. The time and labor we put into a garden comes back to us manyfold, not only through the beautiful and delicious plants we can enjoy, but in the healing benefits of slowing our pace, breathing fresh air, and connecting with nature.

In 1974, Dolly Parton — who has written more than 3,000 songs — was ecstatic when Elvis Presley wanted to record a cover of her latest hit, “I Will Always Love You.” But Presley’s manager told Parton the deal could only move forward if she signed away half the song’s publishing rights. “I cried all night,” she said about declining the offer, but the decision turned out to be one of the smartest of her career. Within the next 18 years, the song made two major film appearances: Parton sang a rendition in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982) and Whitney Houston made the ballad one of the biggest recordings of all time via “The Bodyguard” (1992). Before Parton, no artist had garnered two No. 1 records with the same song, let alone three as a writer — and she kept all her royalties. As Parton acknowledges in this quote, sadness is finite, and enduring hardship is necessary to appreciate life’s joys.