There’s a popular saying within the plant community, Plants Make People Happy.
But does it really? May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and i thought it is a
good time to reflect on my and our collective plant journey with regards to our mental health.
With everything going on lately, still dealing with the pandemic two years in,
women’s bodily autonomy hanging on the balance, war overseas, immigration and refugee crisis,
socio- economic inequalities from housing, healthcare,
food, jobs, education, etc., and not to mention our own challenges and problems,
the last thing you want is to hear someone else dump their issues and trauma on you.
However, my intention is not to do that, but rather take time to reflect and share my thoughts
and experiences on how my plant journey has played a role in my mental health, and I believe that
anyone on their own plant journey will likely and hopefully relate, regardless of our backgrounds.
Like many things, owning lots of indoor plants has become a stereotype for millennials and gen z,
but it is the one hobby that’s probably popular with any generation. The hobby became mainstream
during the start of the pandemic when we were quarantined and in lockdown, and we were isolated
from our friends, co workers, schoolmates, family and loved ones. Many found themselves
living alone and disconnected for a long period of time for the first time, or on the other end,
stuck with people they didn’t want to be stuck with but had to out of necessity. Either way,
there was a form of isolation and feeling stuck that was experienced unlike ever before.
That, along with ne ver before experienced insecurities and fears that suddenly arose from
the pandemic, made a lot of us turn to plants as a way to cope with the stress and anxiety,
to give us purpose in our idleness and restlessness, to feel connected when
we are isolated, or in turn, have moments to ourselves and turn plant care into self care.
However, the plant hobby is certainly not new or something that just became
mainstream during the pandemic. What used to be known as an older person hobby, it was becoming
popular with the younger generations pre-pademic, especially for those who live in urban spaces
that lack green spaces. Taking care of house plants was a way to bring nature indoors,
and allow us a few minutes of our day or a few hours a week to disconnect from our busy and
demanding and yet monotonous lifestyle without having to take time off or make arrangements
in advance or have to travel i order to escape our daily lives. It has become a form of active
meditation, to get our bodies moving and get our minds still, as we reconnect with nature
and in turn ourselves with the simple act of repotting or watering our houseplants.
But regardless of when you started your plant journey, pre or post pandemic,
even for those who thought they didn’t have a green thumb, taking a chance on bringing in a
houseplant home and becoming responsible for its survival was an easy choice to make because it
is relatively low stakes. If they do die, they’re easily replaceable. Plants can be bought anywhere,
from garden centers to grocery stores. Plant shops have popped up everywhere. Plants can
even now be ordered online from across the world and be delivered to our front step.
In the process of surrounding ourselves with greenery and creating our indoor jungle,
we learn lessons on how to not just take care of our houseplants,
but can also apply to our everyday lives. It might seem outrageous that we could’ve learned
all those life lessons and coping mechanisms from just trying to keep a pothos plant alive,
but my plants have taught me many things that I am grateful for and probably would not have
brought those very much needed changes in me if I hadn’t gotten into plants.
My plants have taught me patience instead of wanting instant gratification, as plants take
time to grow and will not speed up the process no matter how much we love it. In fact, too much TLC
can kill them. When trying to find out what’s wrong with my plants, or simply how to best take
care of them, that process made me become more analytical instead of emotional when figuring out
solutions or approaches to problems, be methodical instead of being rash in my decision making.
They’ve also taught me to be less controlling of things that are absolutely out of my control,
and focus on what I can do and don’t let the failures define me or take away from my successes.
One of the biggest things my plants have taught me is to live a more sustainable lifestyle,
or at least try to incorporate more eco-friendly habits in my daily life
and encourage others to do as well. It is a huge oxymoron if we are so into bringing
plants indoors while we continue to contribute to the destruction of their natural habitats.
I do believe plants have made many people care more about the environment, sustainability,
climate change, conservation, and creating more green spaces in their own communities.
One of the surprising things my plants have also taught me financial literacy, or at least
motivated me to become more financially fluent. I gained social media platforms thanks in large
part to creating content with my plants and now are part of my income when I pay my taxes.
That pushed me to learn more about the business side of social media,
to track my expenses and know where my finances are at any given time,
to save and learn how to invest, how to go into business, and to take advantage
of and create opportunities for me to achieve financial stability now and in the near future.
So do plants make people happy? So far, it seems the answer is unequivocally yes.
It’s no longer just a form of escapism or active meditation,
it has been life changing in every aspect of my life. I would always encourage anyone to
get into plants, even if they think it’s not for them, they might be surprised.
However, like many things in life, plants are not the answer or the magic thing that will help
solve everything else that’s going wrong in our lives. As any person with at least a year or two
into their plant journey, they will attest that plants do not come with a happiness guarantee.
As we are in the later stages of the pandemic and people are going back to their quote
unquote normal lives, some are saying that the plant community is dying. now that the
honeymoon phase with our plants is over or mainstream hype has gone down, plants do not
give the same level of joy or excitement. By also accumulating so many plants in such
a short period of time, the indoor jungle is looking more like a hoarder nightmare.
The plant hobby is no longer a form of escapism but one feels the need to now escape from.
What used to be moments of self care and active meditation, taking care of houseplants is no
longer therapeutic but a chore and responsibility like every other. Previously believing that
plants are or can be a substitute for going to therapy or seeking mental health assistance,
some have found their plants could make their depression worse since they feel guilty that they
are unable to take care of their plants when they can barely take care of themselves at the moment.
Plants do not make people happy, not all the time at least, and not by themselves alone. They can
be a great form of coping mechanism, and plant therapy is a real beneficial thing, but it can
not fully substitute for seeking professional help for our mental health. While yes, both
stigma against seeking therapy and accessibility for mental health services needs to greatly
improve in our society, we can’t rely solely on our plants to help better our mental health
and feel worse or blame our plants when they fail or no longer are able to make us happy.
Plants have also become another victim of conspicuous consumption and the desire to
have the trendiest and rarest of plants have driven many people into debt or spending money
that they don’t have. But the high and serotonin boost from buying plants is ephemeral, so buying
more plants has become its own hobby altogether in order to continue to chase that high.
And I admit I wasn’t immune to this, though I never got into debt, I certainly have spent more
on my plants than I should. Plant shopping and plant unboxings are among my favorite plant
content to watch. I used to go plant shopping every week myself as a new form of retail therapy,
and somehow was shocked I had more plants in my collection than I initially thought.
When I realized I had more than a hundred plants in my collection, that was my wake up call for
me. I had to stop spending money on plants that I don’t really want but feel I need to have coz
I saw someone else have it or want to be among the first to have one. I tried putting myself
on plant bans, which to anyone who has tried it, knows that it has never ever worked. So instead
I set a budget I can spend and limit myself to a certain number of plants I can buy in a year.
While I still exceeded the number of plants I added into my collection, I did spend below my
budget as half of the plants I got were from plant trades. But even then, half of the plants that I
did buy didn’t survive. While of course there’s no guarantee that every plant we buy will survive,
having more plants than I am able to take care of, either from lack of time or lack of desire or
both, certainly contributed as to why the plants did die, and therefore wasting money in the end.
While I had the realization, the change did not happen overnight, and it took a
long time for me to no longer feel the need to buy every single trending plant,
and I am able to go plant shopping to just look at plants and without bringing home a plant with me.
I since have probably halved my plant collection, but there are still days I do get overwhelmed with
the plants I do have. Sometimes that leads to impulsively giving away or selling the plants,
or simply letting the plant die, which was unthinkable when I first started my plant journey.
What I have also now learned is that even for plants that I thought were my favorites,
when I have to let them go or they die, I don’t miss them or feel as much of a huge loss
as I thought I would. There are plants that I have certainly regretted selling or losing,
but more often I surprise myself that it is not that big of a deal to lose a plant that I
thought was irreplaceable or very important to me. And yes, even for the monstera albo that I
killed. It is not that I’ve become indifferent or do not have the same level of interest for plants,
but it is also one of the key lessons my plants taught me, and that is to no longer waste my
mental and emotional energy on things that i cannot change or do anything about anymore.
It’s okay to acknowledge the loss and feel what I am feeling, but not let myself hyperfixate on it.
What I can do is learn from my mistakes instead of dwelling on them.
Again, it’s not a switch that suddenly flipped or a consistent view I have held since,
but it’s a perspective that I now I can have when I never did before.
I also used to propagate every single viable part of my plants because I didn’t want to let them go,
especially since I got the plant when they were still very much uncommon,
but now I am learning that it is okay for cuttings to end up in the compost. And tbh, I still do it
sometimes, saving plants that I should probably let go. But whether you are in year one or year
10 of your plant journey, it's a continuous learning and unlearning and relearning process.
Like with any other hobby, there will be ups and downs, and interests grow and wane,
relationship with my plants won’t always be the same as when I first began my plant journey. It
is a journey afterall. But I do find that what got me into plants is still what keeps me into plants.
The mental health benefits I get from taking care of my plants are still there,
but I also learned to develop other coping mechanisms and find ways to better my mental
health. While my plant collection will change and how it is a part of my daily life will evolve,
I do believe plants have become and will always be a part of my lifestyle now.
And for some, plants might be the thing that helped them when they needed it the most,
but now have to let go and move on. And if that is you, that’s okay. Do not let your plants prevent
you from seeking other interests that will help you better yourself and your community.
Plants will always be there for you to get back to if you find yourself seeking another plant
journey. You can always watch my journey live vicariously through mine, Or you simply might find
yourself needing to make changes with your plants as your life changes, so it doesn’t have to mean
all or nothing, you can have a happy place where you and your plants can make each other happy.
thank you so much for joining me today and if you're new to my channel hi my name is marianne
welcome to My Wasteless Life where i take you along my house my journey
and share with you some of my tips and tricks along the way i also create lifestyle content
that is focused on sustainability productivity and wellness and also share of some of my personal and
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and leave a comment down below and check out this videos up here until my next one but until then i
see you i appreciate you take care of yourself and each other and have a plantiful day bye