Plants a Growing Trend or a Mass Awakening

At least one great thing came out of 2020 and that has been this transition to a great deal of people taking up gardening or caring for a houseplant. Who am I kidding, no one has just one houseplant at this point, people either have zero, and are probably thinking about getting one, or they have at least 5. So what do you think? Is this just a trend that will soon fade or is this something more.

I began noticing, what I thought was, a trend in houseplant posts and ads about the same time the pandemic started in the US in March 2020. What drew so many people in making that decision to get a plant, maybe even for the first time ever? I know personally my attraction to plants and their care helped me get through a very difficult time in our world. I grew in immense ways over the last year personally and spiritually and I know many people around me that have done the same.

My first plant turned into 30 plants very quickly, and I didn’t even have to purchase them all, some, I have to say, manifested almost right before my eyes. I’d get a call from a family member “Hey my friend has this plant they don't want anymore, do you want it?”, a few just showed up on my doorsteps, and others were cuttings that were sort of stumbled upon. To me at some point, probably about August, I had a feeling that the plants were actually finding me more than I was finding them. This thought then made me think a bit deeper about the 1000’s of people on social media in groups and pages and people I follow that have all started surrounding themselves with plants. It seemed like such a grand movement that we as humans almost had no control over it. Like the plants have called to us to help save us all. Teaching us routine and patience and nurture. Creating empathy and love for something that can't necessarily love us back.

At the same time my plant fascination and love grew something else in the world was happening, a great awakening. The time that we all have spent at home where our lives have slowed down has given us an opportunity to reflect on ourselves. This time gave me a self awareness I never had before. I found out how much around me, I truly controlled and how everything I experience is a manifestation of my internal emotions. That sounds deep, but let me give an example.

One morning as I was getting ready to venture out into the chaos of the world, I felt a bit rushed, which was an odd feeling when I had nowhere to be and no time restrictions to when I needed to be back due to the pandemic; however I allowed it to control my decisions. I quickly grabbed my purse and rushed out the door only to find when I got to my vehicle that I had no keys. Back inside I race. At this point I'm frustrated and almost frantically looking for my keys, which I could not find because the last time I had driven the week before I hadn't put them back where I usually do. As I look in every logical spot to no avail, I start looking in ridiculous places like behind a shelf where I catch my nail and break it. Prompting me to respond with “What else could go wrong today?”, which wasn’t a good choice of words. I went back out to my vehicle to get my purse and there they were in the DANG CUP HOLDER. I laugh about how silly that is now, but in the moment it infuriated me. I jam the keys in the ignition and off to town I go. I get to the store and there isn't a parking spot to be found, “what the heck people, it's a pandemic shouldn't you all be home!”, as I myself am out in the pandemic.

I park in the back and walk to the store in reach into my purse to grab my shopping list which is on my phone and, you guessed it, no phone. I distinctly remember putting it on the charger and not grabbing it before I walked out the door. I walked around angry shopping and wasn't able to remember anything that I actually needed. I grabbed a few things and was headed to check out when a lady with an aloe plant in her cart walks by. I want an aloe plant I say to myself and head straight to the garden center. There was a huge display of aloe plants and I noticed one didn't have the terracotta planter like the rest, I grabbed it and it had been marked down because the pot was broken. Of course I could feel my mood had changed. I was elated that I had a new plant to care for. I remembered a few things I had forgotten to grab and then headed to check out and then out of the store. The sun was shining when I came out and when it washed over my face I felt a true bliss. I drove home thinking about what had led me to that point and how not that much earlier I had felt so frantic and frustrated and when I felt that way everything seemingly went wrong. That was the first time I consciously thought that maybe my mood made those things go wrong or my mood made me perceive the things happening around me as negative which I then responded to with more negativity. At the moment I awoke to how powerful I was and how mood stabilizing plants can be.

Now my story is unique to me and is just one of many times that I've been shown who I am, but it is not a unique occurrence. Other people all over are having experiences like this becoming enlightened about their own power. I feel it would be safe to assume that if you have read this far you too may have had a few experiences like this or could think of a few things in the past that maybe you didn't see at the time.

I’ve been living a bit differently since that day, most days have been filled with magical experiences that I like to believe are unexplainable, but I know they are just creations to help me grow. I’ve gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on plants and gardening and have a few solid ideas for the future. I find myself much less frustrated and can handle many situations with a new understanding making it easier to figure out the best plan of action.

On the days I question myself and my sanity, I reach out to my plant communities and higher self groups so I can be reminded that I’m not alone in this. We are not alone in this. Every day I focus a lot of attention on my plants and they focus their attention back on me in their own way. Until you experience it for yourself, you may not understand. So maybe it’s time to get a new plant, take up a new hobby, and reflect on yourself for a while.

I do not believe this is a trend. The plants are here to save us and we are here to save them. Get growing, and you’ll begin to grow.