Giving Birth

I have a plant on my counter and it has taught me about life and art and inspiration. I know, it sounds crazy. It’s just a plant.  About a year ago I rescued this fine plant from Lowes. It was in the dollar section.  Did you know there is a dollar section?  I like to visit that lonely corner and rescue plants no one would otherwise purchase.  The pot in which it currently resides was 10x the cost of the plant.  What can I say, I like to give them a good home. 

I have watered my plant (fairly) consistently, so it thrives (for the most part).  There was a stint there in October that I must have neglected it. I didn’t water it as much. I wasn’t aware of its needs, despite the fact that it is in front of me every. single. day. (which, looking back, is a reflection of the neglect of my own self during that time…and how many of us can admit we tend to do that to the ones we love who are right in front of us every. single. day?)   

Then one day I woke up and realized the tips of the leaves were turning brown.  It was too late.  The process of death to those leaves had begun. Did you know you can’t reverse death? Once those leaves are brown, they are brown forever.  And although I began to water it more often,  I learned it still wasn’t enough because the death spread down the leaf and the brown began to overtake the green.  I became even more aware of the situation, and I began to check the soil daily and I watered it when necessary.  I was hyper vigilant. I started noticing subtle things about the health of my plant.  I would come into the kitchen and think, wow you’re perky today! Yes, plants can be perky.  (hang in reader, my point is coming)  Although the brown leaves didn’t change back to green, the spread of the brown halted.

    Then I noticed new growth, and I learned that the new growth comes from an existing leaf. A new leaf doesn’t just pop out of the soil. It is actually a birth process from the old leaf.  The stem of the old leaf suddenly has another leaf coming up, growing directly out of the stem.  It was an interesting discovery for me.  I began to become mildly obsessed with this process.  I watched every day, and I watered the plant and celebrated as more and more leaves grew forth from the existing stems.  I thought about life and how everything is born from something else.  I know it sounds simple and some would say, yes, Michelle, we’ve learned that some time ago.  But what I also came to understand is that this holds true for more than life. Art is born from other art. Ideas are birthed from other ideas.  Nothing comes from nothing. Everything comes from something.  So when I become inspired to write or my daughter becomes inspired to write music it is because something out there influenced us.  Whatever the influence is, it begins a chain of thought…I picture those paper chains we made as kids…until we have that aha! moment of inspiration.  And suddenly we have written or composed or painted or drawn something that came from something else.  So as I look at my plant each day, it reminds me to be aware of what can inspire my writing. What will give birth to the next thought?   I’ve talked about social media before and how it can provide inspiration.  There are so many places ideas can come from. Eyes open. Be aware. Write. Draw. Paint. Play music. Give birth to an idea.  Let that spark ignite something in you…  Be inspired.