At the risk of sounding like a nut, I want to announce to the world: Plants are my friends! 🙂
I LOVE plants… as is apparent in my home, which is filled with them. I talk to my plants – yup:- I chat with them, say “good morning”, apologize if I feel I have neglected them. Send them good vibes now and then. I look on them lovingly. If I pick a flower, I always thank them and ask if OK first. Maybe some might think this a little crazy – but I really do feel a connection – I feel their energy – and even more so from trees!
I happened upon an old book a couple of years ago, whilst visiting one of the Gulf Islands off the mainland of BC:
The Secret Life of Plants’ – by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. I think it was first published in the early 70’s – This is an interesting read – though I confess to only having started on it – a couple of chapters in, but it shares many stories/accounts of human interaction and communication with plants (see? Not so crazy!) 😀
Another (more recent) book I have is ‘The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs’ – Tristan Gooley – and this is a great little guide to reading the messages of the trees, plants and creatures we share this planet with!
On top of those, I have a heap of books on flower remedies and essential oils too.
Back on trees though: I’m now thinking back to a beautiful old Weeping Willow tree we had in my childhood garden. This tree was my solace. It was where I would go when I was distraught or sad. I would sit right up next to it’s trunk letting the hanging branches hide and protect me, feeling comfort and grounding and inevitably it would guide me – lead me to a calmer place where I felt at peace once again.
Years later, my parents sold the family home and the new owners had requested it was removed before purchase – in case the roots made their way under the house and caused damage. I was heartbroken.
Trees hold a very powerful energy – you can feel it in the woods or forests more-so. I always felt as if I were transported to a different planet when walking through wooded areas. The atmosphere feels so different – and sometimes alien compared to the city and towns. While living in the north of England, I would visit woods and forests regularly – there always seemed to be wooded areas close by and within walking distance, it seemed, no matter where I lived. My favourites were those magical mystical ones that, come Spring/Summer, were carpeted with vibrant blue-purple bluebells.
I am making a note to start exploring more wooded areas where I currently live, in Victoria British Columbia. I live very close to a beautiful driftwood beach/ocean – which is a perfect place to walk to and sit and meditate or contemplate…but I am realizing that in having this beach so close, I have neglected searching out my wooded friends here. I am making a note to visit a wood that is up by the university this coming week. I will make a note to remind myself and will post pictures in an edit here later.
So back to plants: I am not surprized that I have a love of them – my father and brother are both gardeners. I grew up hearing almost every Latin name of any plant or flower we passed – and varying details. However – coming from a plant family is both a blessing and a curse: For one – my father seems to have what I consider a profoundly unjust and inaccurate image/depiction of me not being able to take adequate care of my plants. I am not sure where or what this idea was born of – maybe (possibly) from some childhood or teenage neglect or inability to take care of a specific plant? Maybe it is just my Yorkshireman father’s sense of humour (quite possibly!), and so I try to take it in good humour, even if it does indeed rattle/stir me a little! The other ‘curse’ might be when my father visits and wants to prune and “take then heads off” my beloved friends! Of course, he is the expert and knows that they will “come back again”, etc., but oh the pain I feel when I see my previously brilliantly-bursting-with-blossom lavender bush scalped!
Plants are so wonderful for so very many reasons and are a huge part of my life – whether they are adorning my rooms in my home (aesthetics, my teen calls them!), or daisies and other wild flowers growing happily in my garden, the plants in pots on my deck, or my windowsill filled with herbs – or my newly forming herbal collection in my dining room (I am on a herbalism course currently) – and even down to the essential oils and flower remedies I use for my holistic practice and general well-being. And of course, we mustn’t forget the veggies, plants and herbs that make up dinner – I LOVE plants and am so grateful for them all.
I mentioned I am studying about herbalism currently. Learning about the myriad of uses of plants and herbs – identifying and locating them – growing them, using them as remedies for ailments. It is super-interesting and there is something so fulfilling about working with the natural elements on this earth. This is something I hope to turn into a business after completing – not entirely sure of details of what exactly at this stage. For the moment, I am happy drinking my herbal teas, snipping rosemary and lavender from the garden, and helping people by providing essential oils blends and flower remedies to help them.
I plan to share some favourite essential oil blends, some flower remedy tips, and some herbal tea blends in future posts… so keep an eye out!
So to round off this post (and prior to adding some images later in the week as a post-edit), I guess it is just a share of my own relationship with plants and to remind us to recognize their friendship – the benefits to having them close, to being with nature and connecting with our natural world.
Have a lovely day.
x
Mystic Holistic 