[DAY 87 OF THE DEEP END PROJECT]
I don’t have a black thumb, but I also don’t have a green thumb.
Let’s just say that I use my thumb for scrolling rather than planting green stuff.
That was my mom’s thing.
From green chillies to roses to tomatoes, she grew everything.
She could spend hours in our small little garden.
My sister got the G-DNA (G for gardening). She isn’t big on social media but she regularly updates me on pics from her garden.
Her berries, her tomatoes, her potatoes.
Me?
I have fake plants inside the house and some pots and plants outside that we pay someone to take care of.
I could barely keep my succulents alive. It died within 3 months, but we had taken enough Instagram pics with it. In short, it served its purpose.
So you could imagine my nervousness when my sweet housekeeper, Christina, bought me an Orchid Plant for my birthday this year.
It was already blooming so we were good for a couple months.
And then one by one all the flowers died and fell.
The two bare stems were a reminder of my bad luck with the green stuff.
“I water it once every other week” I told Christina one day, my voice filled with guilt.
Christina admitted that she also waters it when she thinks the soil is dry. She also added “Orchids hardly ever survive, don’t worry.”
But I really wanted it to.
For Christina. And for my mom.
She is the sweetest woman alive who takes care of us just like my mom used to.
In fact the way she came into our lives was very serendipitous and I know how silly it sounds but sometimes it almost feels like she was sent to me by my mom.
I really really wanted this Orchid Plant to not die!
So I did what any other regular human would do.
I kinda became obsessed with it. I watered it frequently, I kept changing its position to make sure it gets enough sunlight but not too much.
And don’t tell this to my family but I even whispered “you are amazing” “you are so loved” “you are so beautiful” to it.
I know, I know but I remember reading a research paper on how two plants were used in a study. They whispered all bad and ugly things to one and positive affirmations to the other.
At the end of the research, the first plant wilted and the other flourished.
Yeah, I became that obsessed with it.
5 new buds.
F-I-V-E!!
I am not saying the affirmations did it, but I’ve seen crazier things happen before.
One bud is almost ready to bloom and it has taken all my Surrender Practice to wait for it to open up on its own time.
Everyday I see it open up a tiny little bit.
“Tomorrow” I whisper but it’s been over 3 weeks and let’s just say this plant is teaching me all about not rushing the process and letting things unfold in its own sweet time.
I always say all lessons we need can be learned from Nature.
Even Business Lessons. Especially Business Lessons.
I left a few Easter Eggs “Business Lessons” here. What are yours?