How to take care of your house plant
There was a time my therapist compared human beings to house plants, the only difference was that we had more complicated emotions.
I remember in the early 2020’s I bought my first plant. I didn’t pay much attention to it, watered it when I remembered, always left my blinds closed and kept the sun off it. When the pandemic started, I also started my therapy. There was a video call I had with my therapist and in the background she saw my dying plant, that’s when it all started.
She used the example of my plant reflecting how I was taking care of myself or giving myself attention. “We are surrounded by four walls at the moment, try to take care of your plant the way you would like to take care of yourself,” she commented to me. I remember the first day I thought: Well, I want to get out so I can feel happier, what I can do for my plant is to move it to a place with more space and more light. Second day: I watered it more carefully and wiped its leaves with a dry sponge to remove the accumulated dust. Third day: I removed the dry leaves and arranged the tangled stems a little better.
“I don’t see any change,” I commented to my therapist. She replied that my plant was feeling the change. I was finally taking care of it and giving it attention. You have two choices, be patient and wait for time to pass and see with your own eyes the change in her or enjoy when you have your routine with her and know that the results will appear when the time is right. As the weeks went by, it became a habit, I learned from her. I knew when it needed sun on the other side, a little more ventilation or it was time for a leaf to come to his end.
This year I have had more work responsibilities, more personal challenges, less time and less organization, yet today I have 8 new plants receiving attention and care. Life is all about balance, although there are times when I forget to take care of myself, I realize that my 8 plants are still alive and growing. Just because I neglect myself for a few days, doesn’t mean that this will cause everything I have planted to wither.
This is a little manual of what I have learned in these two years taking care of my houseplants:
- drink water
- maintain communication with your loved ones
- get sun baths
- you have to say I love you more often
- learn to move your place when necessary
- cut the withered sides that don’t need to be attached to you anymore
- listen to beautiful music
- feel everything (the air, the warmth of the sun, the cold of the night, the rainwater)
- don’t stop growing, have the mindset to have a bigger pot
- it’s okay to have your leaves fall from time to time
- learn to be resilient
- don’t compare yourself to the growth or sprouting of other plants
- spread your roots
