Nine years ago, my friend Diana gave me a sweet little plant. It’s been with me through thick and thin and now is super tall and about ten times its original size.
Once in a while, the green fronds turn brown, and I panic that it’s the end of my beloved plant. One time I was so concerned I took my plant to the “plant guy” in my old neighborhood. He asked me why I didn’t just remove the brown fronds—that it’s totally ok to do so and the plant was fine.
This may be Plant 101 to all the green thumbs out there, but this is my plant ride-or-die, and I really used to worse-case-scenario everything.
So now after a very long stretch of vibrant green, my beloved plant has brown fronds again. Even though the plant guy had reassured me, yesterday I still googled what to do. The first thing I read said if you don’t remove the brown leaves, “…the plant will direct some of its energy to the dead leaf, if only to hasten the process whereby the leaf finally drops off. This is a major waste of a plant’s resources.”
That same day I drew the vulture spirit animal oracle card which said, “What is decaying is only changing form, turning that which has passed away into the substance that will support new growth.”
I was absolutely lost for a very long time when my cat Willow passed. One of her quirks that I loved was that every time I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, she’d come in, rub against me, and twitch her tail in a very unique way. I have no idea why.
A year after losing her, I moved into a new apartment with a new cat. The first night there, the new cat came into the bathroom as I brushed my teeth, rubbed against me, and twitched her tail in that undeniably Willow way. And then she never did it again.
I knew that meant that even though Willow wasn’t physically with me, she was still with me. And now it was time for a new chapter to begin.
Feelings like regret, grief, and sadness are real, and there’s nothing wrong with having them. But getting stuck in them forever and is a waste of our energy. Moving through them and processing them allows us to use our resources for our highest good, creating room for new experiences and relationships.
Just now as I’m writing this blog post, I got a text from my friend Diana saying she’s feeling the urge to connect with me, so when can I chat?
Not every brown leaf is worthy of panic—it actually plants the seeds to better things…like that text you weren’t expecting from that friend who gave you that plant you know is ok.
It’s all about the magic. 🙌