Plants

At some point in my life I began to believe that plants were the key to life. I obsessed over the plants and the mystery in how they worked and how unpredictable each species really was. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the power of medicine and vaccines, but I also came to believe that herbs can help in many ways too. It fascinated me to think that plants are everywhere. Almost every corner of the world has plants, even in deserts and arctic tundras. They survive and even thrive in places where life should not be possible. Yet, we rarely notice them. We rarely notice the beauty and the mystique all around us. That dandelion you stepped on used to be used in salads, that daffodil you planted in your garden can be used as a poison and that milkweed you destroyed with your lawn mower is the only reason we still have Monarch butterflies. Every day we destroy more forests and oceans to supply for our greedy needs. What about the cry violet? What about the Saint Helena Olive? What about the many orchids and other plants that have been killed due to mankind? Yes, we should worry about animals going extinct, but what about the plants? What about the quiet suppliers of life? In many cases, animals wouldn’t be alive without plants. The more we learn about plants the more we are finding new drugs and new medicines that can benefit humanity, yet we still allow unexplored rainforests to be obliterated. I believe in the power of plants because I understand what it’s like to be a plant. To want to share your voice with the world, but no one listens. To want to run away from the dangers ahead, but to be rooted in one spot. I understand how it feels to be screaming for someone, anyone to notice you, and just get stepped on and forgotten. If I could bloom I would, if not to just make you stop and look at me before passing by, but I can not. I embrace the rains as they disguise my tears with their droplets. I look towards the sun and gain the strength to try again, to breath again, more deeply this time and to stand up to face the world that tells me I am nothing. But as soon as I begin to grow, someone comes along to cut me down. I am not a plant. I can not pretend that I am not human, but I understand. So when I tell you about the flower growing in your yard, remember that it is not because I am proud of my knowledge, it is because I am proud of that plant. That through all the pain and pollution nature and humans has thrown at it, it survives. And when I tell you that I am doing well, it is not because I am happy or that I believe I am successful, it is because I am proud to have made it this far. People ask why so many millennials don’t plan for the future, it is because we never expected to see one and if we don’t start taking better care of the plants on earth, we won’t.

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