Welcome to a new week!
Hope you had a great week! Since we just came off of Earth Week and it’s Spring and all of that, I thought I’d share a little lesson from the garden with you today.
NOTE: If you prefer, you can click on the audio version above and listen instead.
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THE SUFFERING
First, I should tell you, I am NOT a gardener. I’ve never had a green thumb and I carry a long history of killing plants - especially houseplants.
That said, I always get emotionally attached to plants. They feel very much like sentient beings to me - capable of feeling all the feels - pleasure, joy, pain and distress.
Ever since we downsized and moved into an apartment nearly five years ago, my luck with plants has greatly improved. In our very small space, we have about a dozen plants that have grown pretty significantly over the years. In fact, they take up a lot more space than they did when we first got them. We joke now that we will know it’s time to move when they get within a foot of the ceiling. That might be sooner than we think!
We have this one fiddle leaf fig that I was so sure would not last under my care because they have a reputation for being so finicky and difficult. But, surprisingly, it has continued to thrive and grow year over year.
Well…until the last couple of months.
One by one, leaves are dropping off. It hasn’t been thriving. The soil is always wet even though I haven’t watered it. It’s just not happy.
So, we moved it. The sun has shifted a bit in our apartment. I hoped the extra light might help. And, since that time, I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on it to see if it improves, but it hasn’t. Nothing new is growing and leaves continue to drop off.
THE SHOCK
I finally decided it was time for something more drastic. We should replant it before every last leaf falls off.
Maybe it’s not draining well. Maybe it has outgrown the pot.
Who knows what’s going on?
So, we headed out to buy a new pot and fresh soil. We rolled up our sleeves and did the brutal job of replanting it.
Remember how attached I get to plants? I was talking to it the whole time. I feel like replanting is hard enough for a plant. But, THIS replanting…it truly was brutal. It was no gentle process. We had to dig it out, break up the roots and totally reshape it to drop into the new pot.
It wasn’t pretty. And I felt bad about the whole thing.
Poor fiddle leaf.
We crossed our fingers. Said a little prayer. And, put him back in his spot in his new pot.
THE SURVIVAL
It may still be a little too soon to get excited, but it actually seems to be doing really well. It’s standing tall. It seems to be adjusting. No more leaves have fallen. Maybe, just maybe, this is exactly what Mr. Fiddle needed?
THE SYMBOLISM
How many times do we ignore the signs of suffering in our lives? We watch the leaves fall off the tree one by one, but we don’t do anything about it. Maybe it’s time for a new pot? New soil? Maybe it’s all packed too tight in there? Maybe we need to shake our roots a bit? Move our roots into a larger space? Surround ourselves with some new soil?
Just a thought.
THE SOIL
I shared a poem with my clients this week that I thought I’d share here as well. It’s by Leah Thomas (@greengirlleah on Instagram). It really spoke to me at this stage of life.
We spend a lot of time looking at the branches in our lives. The stuff people can see. The leaves falling off. The color fading. And, we forget to really look at the soil. The roots. The potential for growth.
SOIL
Do you ever look down at the ground, And examine the soil?
There's a thriving underworld of mycelium
Of networks beneath our feet that hold us all together
Always working, even when we sleep
A foundation of layers of soil
Clay, sand, dirt
Do you ever look down at the ground
And feel gratitude
That the earth is holding us
It's carrying us, even when we break it down
It's stabilizing us, even when we build more on top
It's allowing us to stand,
Every single day
Lately I've been looking at the ground
Imagining the world beneath my feet
Thinking how thoughtlessly we walk on top of
The grass, the soil, the flowers
The seeds blooming constantly, even when we aren't aware
Lately I've been thankful for the soil
That holds us
That breathes us in
That sequesters and captures even the worst impurities and tries its hardest to make it new
To breathe it out back into the world
Into our lungs
We should give thanks to the soil,
to the earth,
to the ground - that holds us up
And treat it well
Without it, we would fall
by Leah Thomas
YOUR MISSION:
This week, I challenge you to take a look at the soil in your life. Is it time for a shakeup? More space? Fresh soil? A new pot?
RESOURCES:
READ: The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet | Leah Thomas
READ: A Backward Glance | Edith Wharton
IN SUMMARY:
“One can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.” Edith Wharton
Don’t get too comfy in that pot of yours. We can keep growing. Even in the exact same spot. Shake out your roots a bit and give yourself some space to breathe deeper.
See you next week?
Meanwhile, reach out to me anytime!
Karen Friend Smith
Certified Health Coach & Environmental Health Specialist
Specializing in Perimenopause & Menopause
karen@itmaybemenopause.com
www.itMayBeMenopause.com
Instagram: @itmaybemenopause
I’m right there with you karen! I have never had a green thumb! Maybe all I needed to do was talk to it like you did with Mr. Fiddle. Another good read. Thank you. ❤️
Sooo good as usual! Great tip on the Fiddle leaf's - those self watering pots from Home Depot are life savers! (The name is a little misleading, but they have a nice big reservoir where the water collects and then evaporates - keeps them from being overwatered which Fiddle leaf's do NOT like.