“In a world where we are surrounded by an extant amount of stimuli, it would seem rather unnatural to turn one’s attention to that which often passively interprets it.”
Kukua Anthonyin
Last year, I switched up my yearly ‘around the birthday clock’ goal. Unlike previous years where I’d focused mainly on strength and flexibility workouts, I turned my attention to something I wouldn’t have dared thought myself to be good at in the past; taking care of a living thing- PLANTS! About four years ago, 3 very good friends of mine gifted me plants on my birthday. I thought to myself, these humans do have some humor… and with that thought, obviously, it was not surprising when I successfully killed all of them! However, last year, I was more motivated because, as I keep learning about how much nutrition plays a role in the quality and ‘quantity’ of our lives, the harder it is for me to give up full control of what I consume to processes I do not have oversight over. And so I finally got the hydroponic system I’d been reading so much about! I’d also moved into a new apartment so I figured, rather than a tall plant that primarily serves the purpose of beautifying my space, which let’s be real, would mostly be appreciated by my guests, why not kill two birds with one stone. I love my hydroponic farmstand for the herbs and salad leaves it’s able to support but I also love it for its aesthetics. Done!
This blog is, however, not about my hydroponic system. As a practicing physician, I always wondered how women in a labor ward would cry and curse and say all sorts of things during childbirth; including I’ll never do this again, this is my last, and then in 1-2 years, they’d be back singing the same tales. There’s something about watching living things grow. Obviously, growing plants is nothing similar to nurturing a child! However, for the first time, I could almost understand! I wanted more! As part of my unending culinary expedition, I took on the purple Japanese sweet potato. This is by far, the best variety I’ve had since my move to the US. After dipping one potato in water, I had the random thought- what if this one doesn’t work? So why not add another? Below, is exhibit 1.
You’ll find two potatoes. The blooming one, I soon named Happy as she flourished so quickly. The other, as you may have guessed was named Gloomy. In the span of about two weeks, she simply wouldn’t thrive in the same environment! And so I thought to myself, Alas! Sometimes it really is not about your environment! Sometimes it’s you.
When I was finally ready to pluck my potato slips (from Happy) and transplant them into my grow bag, a friend literally told me to show some love to poor Gloomy and I thought to myself, o how cute😅. At about the same time, I was also ready to give up on a pepper plant I was experimenting with in my hydroponic system. The following day, Gloomy started to sprout and coincidentally, I finally saw a tiny pepper protruding through a flower bud, displacing its pistil. Totally UNBELIEVABLE! Yes, the moral of this story was patience.. yea, yea, I get it. But even beyond that, I still thought about what it really means to be in environments where your ‘bloom rate’ is simply different! I’ve seen stalks take weeks to shoot up and literally grow uncontrollably after a first harvest; hello Mint! Even under the same shared conditions, there’s such beauty in one’s uniqueness and one’s story. Can we appreciate that? Hello? Further, even when an environment is not shared with others, one’s expression may not necessarily be because of the environment! It may simply be a factor of the stage and timing! It may simply be about the internal process. That internal VARIABLE. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we were attune with this? Because, really, what if YOU mattered the most in YOUR story! YOU do have AGENCY in how it’s written!
Hacks of life 