Back to Nature: What I'm learning from plants

It has been almost seven months now since I turned my living space into a small and personal plant nursery. Taking care of them is now such a fulfilling habit, it's rather arduous to explain. The other day I found myself rushing home while being on lunch because I was suddenly reminded by my subconscious

" oh it's sunny today, run home and open to the blinds...my babies have not seen sun in two whole days".

As I drove home, I wondered where the stimulation came from? And what were they teaching me.

Memories

As a child, one of my mother's favorite past time was taking care of her flower garden. I remember watching her singing as she cared for them, they made her so happy. I suppose that's where my fascination for plants begin. I think I now find the same joy that my mother got from them and most of all they are teaching me crucial life lessons.

Hang in there

Plants are resilient , I am shocked sometimes of how well they are able to maintain even in tough environments. I remember being in Haiti for a week, I completely forgot to ask my sister to care for my plants. Upon my return I was sure they were all done for, but to my surprise, they were fine. Mind you it was in the middle of winter I was extremely happy of course. I realised, I took great care of them the weeks before I left so they simply collected all that goodness and stored it for tougher days. Now I am sure they were in need of care by the time I got to them but they hung in there with gratitude and a forgiving spirit.

~~ Wouldn't it be amazing to apply the same Ideology to our lives? Learning to adjust to life's challenges with a graceful nature and allowing our struggles to simply make us stronger. None of us are Immune to life's punches that is a given, but how we take in those punches makes a huge difference. When we find ourselves exposed to the unknown, Instead of retrieving to a hiding place, respond with thicker roots.

Selfless

I feel like this lesson is an obvious one but one of significant Importance. To my knowledge , plants are simply the most selfless creatures ever ( yes I know they are not conscious ). I mean they provide oxygen right? And they are a main food source. My point is that they add value to others and that's simply amazing to me.

~~ One of my favorite Motivational speaker Les Brown ( If you don't know of him check him out on you-tube). Anyways , he often talks about how our purpose in life is to help others. Adding value to each other's lives even with the smallest gesture makes all the difference.

Love and share

” The more love you have...the more you will have to share"

#vulnerable Stephanie Taina

Get Inspired but be patient

Plants are patient and they practice self care. They are in no rush, they grow as they please. The smallest succulent plant will grow confidently next to a huge spider plant.

~~Lats spring, I found myself explaining to a classroom of five year old children why they should be patient while waiting for our class plant to grow. It was the funniest thing, they ran in the class everyday expecting the dang Lima Bean to be the size of an oak tree. And they were disappointed every time.

This was comical to me yes but how often do we do the same as adults? We tend to rush our own process while constantly basing our progress on how well others are doing. Those tendencies seems to make it hard for us to practice patience in our personal journeys.

~~ Plants do us a world of good, so let's be thankful for all the lesson that they provide.

XOXO Steph