What Plants Teach Us About Self Care
"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare." Audre Lorde
The current state of the world is one shadowed by darkness. The darkness is bigger than all of us. How can one person, one tiny little person in a world full of 8 billion people, change the trajectory of this world? One person can begin where they are, take stock of what they have and weigh their resources and options toward changing outcomes. The one thing any of us can do to bring light to the world is to take care of ourselves. Self-care is an act of revolution and rebellion.
Now I’m not talking about self absorption, because there are things and people and pets and places that we do need to care for and about. But what are any of the things without us? Without ourselves, we have nothing. So taking care of ourselves is the most important action we can take every day to change the world. If the world was full of 8 billion healthy people, it would be a beautiful place full of light and life!
I don’t have a magic pill, potion or practice to get us there, but what I do have is a plant. Well, I have two plants actually, that are easily accessible to most people, and easily found in your yard, or maybe your neighbor’s, or maybe wild along a hedge row. These plants are lavender and roses. I usually try to plant some roses or lavender every year. Some years I can skip it, but some years I kill them (the cold weather usually). But I don’t lose hope or think that my thumb went from green to black, I just begin again and start over, learning something new that I didn’t know before.
They aren’t’ necessarily hard plants to grow, but they do like particular conditions. They aren’t cold or wet hardy, and they like their living environment with particular qualities like sand, or soil amendments. They don’t need a lot of room, but they like the sun and prefer outdoor living to indoor living. But most of all these two plants love you. They love you so much that they are happy to have their flowers plucked and utilized to help you live your best life nurturing your world view, but also your body, mind and spirit.
Flowers bring joy and the joy these two bring is no small thing. How have you felt when you received the gift of roses? I bet you smiled. I’ll bet you buried your face in their petals and breathed deeply and let out a sound like, “Ahhhh!” or “Beautiful!” How do you feel when you see lavender? Do you feel yourself let go with a sigh? Do you go to it, touch it, feel it, rub it between your fingers and smell the fragrance allowing their relaxing scent to wash over you? Notice how both create a feeling or emotion along with their presence.
Enjoying the flowers for their scent and site are the first experiences they cause. With their beauty, they lure us in, unless of course you’re allergic to them which is also a way they help you to know they will NOT be of use to you! But if you’re not allergic, and the impact is one of joy and a feeling of “more please” then I encourage you to go further into a wholistic experience of them.
Plants let us know that they are for us by the way they interact with us through feelings and senses. If they taste or smell good, that is a positive interaction rooted in the body’s knowing. We know if something tastes good we want to eat it and it is in their good smell that we even know we should taste. They can show us how they can help us by the way they live. Roses are great reminder for setting boundaries. The set boundaries with their sharp thorns. They show you their beautiful faces, but they also tell you to step back and watch out. Their beauty is nothing without boundaries. Lavender grows in spikes. With its shooting spikes It cuts through and stands out. It cuts through darkness of the heart and mind reaching for the light of the sun shining its purple glow, even after it’s separated from its roots.
In their signatures they tell us what we need to know about how they will best help us to break through our own dark nights and reach for the shining light within. Both plants help to heal grief that weighs heavy on the heart. They support the skin. Rose petals are soft like the skin and their oils soften our skin, removing fine lines, toning and soothing. Lavender contains antibacterial properties that clear the skin and bring brightness to the skin tone. Lavender can help with sleep and roses can help with sadness. And these are just a few of the gifts that these two flowers can give to you.
Final note: If you can get these flowers, make sure they are organic. I can’t stress this enough. The chemicals sprayed onto plants that will be consumed harm your liver, stomach and brain, and some cannot be expelled from the body, and will live in your cells even after you die. Organic isn’t for hippy tree huggers, it’s for every one: People and Planet! Many plants are unsprayed and grown with natural practices, get those and when you can’t, get organic! Practicing this is a form of self-care essential to the continuation of life on earth, as well as the health of your body and the planet. Be revolutionary, take care of yourself!
