People in the knowledge management scene have come up with this metaphor that creating and “caring” for notes is similar to tending for your garden, your flowers, trimming the grass and removing the weeds.
In a way, gardening is a recurring activity which can be done by beginners and experts alike, with varying degrees of success. You feel a sense of commitment and, after a job done well (a flower blooming for the first time!) also accomplishment.
The plants live in an ecosystem which you help create. By nurturing them, they are able to intermingle and form common roots.