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Dear 2020,
How you continue to surprise me. The sansevieria, aka snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue, rarely produces a bloom. In fact, it only does so when it is mildly and continually stressed. This normally happens when the plant becomes root-bound.
Last week, for the first time ever, mine bloomed.
I have owned this plant for maybe 25 years. When you have something around for that long, you forget when you bought it, found it, or whether someone gave it to you. I’m pretty sure I bought it. I happen to like sansevieria. I’ve repotted this particular plant at least three times. My husband religiously waters it once a week.
It has never bloomed before now.
Sansevierias only bloom when they are mildly and continually stressed. And root-bound.
That’s one hell of a metaphor for 2020.
Driving home from work yesterday, I listened to an interview about burnout. Here's a short list of burnout symptoms: becoming critical or cynical at work; having to drag yourself to work and having trouble getting started once you get there; becoming irritable with co-workers; low energy; feeling disillusioned and dissatisfied.
Hmmm. Sound familiar?
How’s that working from home doing for you?
Ask 10 people if they are feeling stressed, and I’m willing to bet nine of them will say yes. And, that’s just the folks who still have a job.
It’s hard to even imagine what it must feel like right now to have lost a job, lost a business, lost a home, lost a loved one. It’s staggering.
Hello, September and the start of a new school year!
From kindergarten to college, millions of students are going to school virtually this fall … at home. Thousands of kitchen tables have been turned into work/school central. And parents all around the world are brushing up on math, world history, and grammar while trying at the same time to maintain some type of professional life at their jobs.
As if that's not enough, there's that root-bound thing.
Summer vacations were cancelled. Playdates are iffy. Dinner with friends … nope. Even going to the grocery store presents some obstacles, including standing in line six feet apart while waiting to be one of the next lucky ones allowed into the store.
Then there’s that stubborn sansevieria bloom.
Is it possible to bloom in all of this?
Right now, we have two choices: despair and stay in bed or get up one more time and get through another day with some grace. Trapped in the root-bound restrictions of COVID, most of us are not exactly blooming.
Truth be told, the spiky white flower of the sansevieria is never going to make it into someone’s bridal bouquet.
Instead of trying so hard to bloom, let’s cut ourselves and each other some slack. Let’s make a vow to call a friend when we feel like the day, the moment, the work, the kids, the whatever are just too much. Instead of crumpling up on the couch, tell yourself a walk would be better, even if it’s just a walk around the block.
Check on those you love: call your parents, your brothers, your sisters, your best high school friend, your elderly neighbor who is living alone. Reach out. Be kind with each other. Get some sleep. Laugh. Pull a few weeds. Repot a plant. Ask your neighbor for a cutting from their prized begonia. Begonias are easy to root. All you need is one leaf and a glass filled with water. Got a spider plant that is overgrown with spider babies? Cut a few and share them with your friends.
There’s a healing power in knowing you can grow something. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or particularly luscious or successful; whatever it is you want to grow just needs to sprout.
I think that’s the best we can do right now. We can sprout. Let’s sprout and call it blooming.
