There is something genuinely special about working the soil, creating and nurturing life, raising a living thing dependent on the care you give it, being in partnership with nature, and harvesting and eating fresh, sun-ripened vegetables you have grown yourself. Plants respond positively if you provide proper growing conditions. And plants don't care if you are young or old, fat or thin, white or black or purple with yellow spots. Another major benefit of working with plants is that you always have potential new friends. Garden clubs and plant shows are great places to meet and interact with people with similar interests.
Nothing gets people talking over the backyard fence quicker than the garden.
After I started working as a horticultural therapist, I established an enabling garden at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, which was then visited by thousands of people every day. The garden was tended by patients from my alma mater, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. I imagine we made quite a sight with all our wheelchairs, electric scooters, walkers, and crutches, every manner of race and disability, and gardening stuff all over the place. The real beauty of the garden went beyond the plants because, rather than being avoided or receiving quick sideways glances as people walked briskly by, we were bombarded with attention. The garden connected us.