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My Brown Thumb Gets Greener (Slightly)
Let’s be honest, my thumbs have always been more comfortable with a keyboard than a trowel. My history with plants was more of a cautionary tale whispered among friends. “Remember that time she killed a cactus?” they’d chuckle. Yes, yes, I know. Cacti are notoriously hard to kill. It’s a shameful badge I wear (or maybe it’s a prickly pear on my lapel? Too soon?). Anyway, imagine my surprise when a friend, aware of my track record, gifted me a houseplant. “It’s practically unkillable,” she assured me.
Challenge accepted, plant friend. Challenge accepted.
With a newfound respect for the delicate balance of nature, I cut back on the H2O and gave Percy some space. And wouldn’t you know it, he perked right up! It was a valuable lesson in letting go, trusting the process, and maybe not drowning everything in affection (ahem, take note future significant others).
Lesson #2: Silent Growth: The Tiny Leaf That Taught Me Patience
Weeks turned into months, and Percy thrived under my (slightly) more experienced care. He wasn’t exactly shooting up new leaves left and right, but he was alive, dammit, and that was a victory in my book! Then one morning, as I was about to chastise him for his lack of visible progress, I noticed something: a tiny, curled-up leaf, shyly peeking out from the soil. It was so small, so easy to miss, but there it was – proof that even when we can’t see it, growth is always happening.
It got me thinking about my own life. How often do I dismiss my progress because it’s not a grand, Instagrammable display? Sometimes, the most significant changes happen beneath the surface, slowly and steadily, like a root system anchoring us to the earth.