Greener
They say the grass is greener over there,
jumping fences to compare
artificial landscapes
filled with snakes
and plastic personas
barely awake
no use in wasting breath not being alive,
I rather water the ground I stand on
with the tears from my own eyes
than to live a life of compromise.
the grass is never greener,
nor the sky any more blue,
your environment is merely a reflection of you.
- JW
(Greener, pg. 79 The Journey We Take)
Have you ever thought that the grass was greener on the other side, just to find out it wasn’t?
It may have only appeared to be greener simply because that’s the way our minds imagined it would be, not realizing changing external factors can’t fix the problems that are deeply rooted within. This perception is nothing more than an illusion of what life could be, a mere fantasy, which places an emphasis on the tendency we have as individuals to constantly assess and compare our lives. A human’s want is endless, though it could be as destructive as it is constructive. We seek out other experiences and situations to set them side by side with our own; as I’ve heard someone put it before, comparing our “behind the scenes” to everyone else’s “highlight reels.” This speaks to the disconnect between reality and perception, often exacerbated by the portrayal of idealized lies on social media.
Whatever you have has been good enough until you start taking it for granted, then you are left dissatisfied, picturing life under different circumstances. But what seems to be better from a distance may turn out to be superficial and lacking authenticity. Sometimes the reason why we’re in this state of ‘lack’ is because we have stopped putting in the effort, we have given up, and in short, we have let our own grass die. So, instead of looking at everyone else’s grass, we all have to think about what we can do to nurture our own. I wrote this poem wanting to encourage people to take ownership of their well-being and actively work on improving their own situations. We have the agency to make positive changes in our lives and acknowledging the major role we play in our own happiness is key.
“The grass isn’t greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it.”