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Ep.84 Tomato and Basil: Lessons Beyond the Plate
41 Plays19 days ago
Dive into a heartfelt story of how two unexpected plant guests, Tomato and Basil, have become profound teachers in my life beyond the kitchen. This episode explores embracing unexpected teachers, understanding the seasonal nature of life, and redefining beauty through the lens of nature.
Discover how these plants have transformed perspectives on natural rhythms, resilience, and authenticity. Join in on a journey that intertwines personal growth with the wisdom of plants, revealing deep insights into connection, adaptation, and the true essence of beauty.
Topics Covered about tomato
➡️ External indicators are not a measure of health
➡️ Redefining beauty through the lens of nature.
➡️ Insights into resilience and adaptation from plants.
Resources Mentioned
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Transcript
Introduction: Tigra's Unexpected Guests
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. It's me, Tigra Gardenia. Today, I am a little bit scared and totally excited about sharing a personal and somewhat, let's call it, synchronic story about how two unexpected house guests Well, now they live here permanently. So how these friends arrived. Tomato?
00:00:30
Speaker
and Basil and how really them coming into my life has is teaching me such valuable lessons that go way beyond the kitchen. Actually, they don't even pass through the kitchen at all. They just bypass the kitchen all together. So this episode is really about embracing unexpected teachers, understanding the natural rhythms of life and most importantly probably is about rediscovering beauty through the lens of what
00:01:02
Speaker
of the natural world of of how plants experience beauty and therefore how we really should experience beauty.
Lessons Beyond the Kitchen
00:01:10
Speaker
Beauty for me as an is a very, very important term, um especially because for me, beauty passes through the Kabbalistic definition, which I'll get into more. So I hope that you're going to, you know, you have to stay to the end. There's just so much in this.
00:01:27
Speaker
But you know what, let's just get into it. This is episode 84, tomato and basil's lessons beyond the plate.
00:01:38
Speaker
Welcome to Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. I'm your host, Tigria Gardenia, nature-inspired mentor, certified life coach, and the founder of the Naturally Conscious share their practical wisdom to help you consciously embody the
00:02:04
Speaker
about the wondrous ways of plants. Together we'll explore how ecosystem thinking helps you overcome limiting beliefs, understand the true nature of relationships, and live an authentic, impactful life.
The Kabbalistic View on Beauty
00:02:19
Speaker
So this episode is going to take you on a bit of a journey because really, this is how it happened to me. It was something that I can only share with you through the journey of unfolding that ended up from the beginning, where I'll get to in a minute, to where we are today. And it continues to unfold. From unexpected arrivals I received and am still receiving profound lessons about the season seasonal nature of life,
00:02:49
Speaker
um How do I explain this? Well, yeah like I said before, it's about redefining beauty and understanding these cycles. Now, we've talked about the seasonal nature of life so many times already, and we're going to keep talking about it because every time I think I kind of get it,
00:03:07
Speaker
something new shows up for me. And this is really what is what this episode is. it's a Think of it as continuing education or continuing life lessons. By the end of this episode, I would love for you to think, and and more importantly, for you to give yourself permission to think about plants that feed you in a totally different way. And I never expected that these plants ah would become the profound teachers that they have, but Here we are.
Gaia and Spiritual Growth
00:03:37
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:05:07
Speaker
Okay, so let's just let's just really get into this.
The Tomato Plant Journey
00:05:09
Speaker
First and foremost, I want to talk about these unexpected arrivals. um Specifically, I want to talk about, like I said, tomato and basil. So you should know something about me. There are three foods in this world that I really dislike like i'm a foodie i love food i eat food with such pleasure i'm a tourist you know it's it's a given but i also i love to cook and i especially like to cook for myself because i love to experiment so there's lots of
00:05:41
Speaker
ingredient. I'm the kind of person that um where most where so where most people will go into any kind of shopping mall, and they'll like enjoy the shopping process, I enjoy the supermarket process, specifically if I can go to any kind of ethnic store, and I could buy things that are local to a culture and experiment with them. And so I'm the kind of person that will always order the most unusual thing on the menu, something I have never eaten before, it tried,
00:06:11
Speaker
And if I go to a store, for example, when I lived in Seattle, I used to go to Wajimaya so much, which was the Asian super store that had everything. It was all an oriental market that had like every kind of thing you could imagine. And my favorite thing was to literally go kind of almost shelf by shelf, choosing new things. um i have I have this dream that one day I will go, i will I will live in a place and I will literally go into a grocery store preferably some kind of you know ethnic grocery store or some kind of alternative grocery store and literally pick one item at a time or you know whatever, small clusters of item and go through the entire store eventually. I know it sounds kind of crazy, but I just love new tastes and new experiences and that connection. I've always had that connection with plants via the food thing. But there are three foods that I really do not like in my mouth at all.
00:07:09
Speaker
One of the, and I know that many of you aren't going to argue about these, but one of them is mayonnaise. You can't help it. Even I tried putting mayonnaise in my hair once, and I almost threw up from just the smell of it. And here they make beautiful, wonderful, fresh mayonnaise, which I can smell at least. But no, I don't ever need to eat that. It doesn't work for me. The second one is avocados. I know they're so healthy. They're so good for you. If it's in some kind of food, like it's used in a vegan product, I don't have any problem with that as long as I can't taste it. But if I can taste,
00:07:45
Speaker
The avocado taste? No. No and no. Sorry. this is This is not something new. This is something that has just viscerally come to me as I was child. By the way, I'm the kind of person that when I say I don't like something, I will still continuously try it. I will try it in new experiences. So if somebody offers me a piece of an avocado, I won't eat because I know. But if somebody is making something And they say, well, can you at least try it? I will always try it. But unfortunately, consistently, mayonnaise and avocado. I do not gag on mayonnaise anymore, but seriously, do not like it. Don't put it into my sandwich. Don't put it into my food. ah No. um And the last one is something that is somewhat sacrilegious, where I live here in Italy, but it is the truth. I don't like tomatoes.
00:08:36
Speaker
I can't help it. I'm getting better over the years where, you know, a little bit here and there is okay. I can't eat tomato products. I tend and luckily here in Italy, there's a huge um ah selection of ah non red-based pizza because you know pizza is a big thing here and so that that that makes me a happy girl. I will eat a pizza with tomato sauce and I will eat for example a gurragu because you know a gurragu is a gurragu and it's mainly about the meat but I will not eat
00:09:11
Speaker
plain old tomatoes. So you will imagine my chagrin where I was trying to sprout an avocado seed for a friend. um I thought it would be an interesting experiment to kind of grow up um with an avocado here, even though I know that this is not a location where avocados tend to grow. So I was trying to sprout a seed that a friend of mine had given me and in the pot instead started to grow another plant. so And I kept looking at this plant going, that doesn't look like an avocado to me.
Surprise in the Bathroom: The Tomato Plant
00:09:43
Speaker
But of course, being somewhat ignorant on ah what a tomato plant looks like, it wasn't until a friend of mine came over and saw this plant that was growing in my bathroom, because there's a beautiful window there with lots of like warm sunlight, which I thought would be good for the avocado. And he says, why do you have a tomato plant when you don't eat tomatoes?
00:10:01
Speaker
And hence, my journey with tomatoes showed up. I still don't really know where tomato came from. The only thing I could think of is that the pot, I must have rescued that terracotta pots. I love terracotta pots. I have tons of terracotta pots. Terracotta and a company called Elho A-L-H-O. By the way, I do not know where, um I know that they're European based because I think they're based in the Netherlands. And Elho makes wonderful recycled pots and all ecological pots. It has a wonderful ethos. So pretty much in my house it's terracotta or Elho. That's pretty much all I have for pots. Every once in a while there's something that I might have, you know, inherited from somebody.
00:10:46
Speaker
So what I can think of that maybe happened was that this terracotta pot that i that I got from somebody, um I'm assuming they were starting tomato plants in it and somehow something stayed. I don't know. Anyways, somehow tomato sprouted in my own home.
00:11:06
Speaker
when no tomato seeds ever come into this home. So very amusing and very unexpected. And um and for a long time I said, okay, well, we'll see we'll see what happens because obviously if tomato has arrived, there's got to be some reason why tomato had arrived.
00:11:23
Speaker
So this happened about a year ago, a little bit over a year ago. And at the very beginning, tomato, like I said, was in my bathroom. So tomato lived in my bathroom from the time of arrival to ah so from the time of sprouting, I guess, all the way through to kind of the beginning of last year.
00:11:44
Speaker
When I move tomato, um you'll see me looking out to my right. If you're watching the video, you can actually see me is because tomato is outside ah on my balcony living out there.
00:11:57
Speaker
Around last late spring, early summer, I had another unexpected guest arrive.
Basil's Beginning
00:12:05
Speaker
A friend of mine had had this kind of dinner party. They were actually feeding people over the course of multiple days and um had bought multiple basil plants, you know, the type you buy in the supermarket. um These were actually bought bought in the south of Italy and they brought them back with all of the leftover food from this experience that they were having down there. And before throwing them out, ah before throwing kin out, my friend called me and said, hey, would you like some basil plants? And
00:12:38
Speaker
I wasn't really interested because i I like basil. I eat basil, but I don't actually cook with basil, like fresh basil. um And I don't really have any plants that are just for cu culinary needs. so But basically, when I went over to my friend's house, the plants were dying because the they had bought these basil plants and then had you know basically used them and abused them and left them with no water, with no care whatsoever. And i i just I couldn't do that. So I grabbed all four of the plants, brought them home.
00:13:12
Speaker
started to water these plants and was like, OK, let's see what happens. And so here I am with tomato that's growing that again, I'm not going to eat and basil that's growing that I'm probably not going to eat. So I'm trying to ask them constantly, like, why are you here?
00:13:32
Speaker
What is the lesson that you're here to teach me because it has to be something? I don't even know how to take care of you. I know that you both like sun, but how much sun? And I know nothing about these. Let's just say this.
00:13:46
Speaker
I love plants, obviously, as you know this, but I cannot state it would be a lie to state that I have a green thumb. It it would be a total lie. I do not have a green thumb. um I listen and I try, but I have a very hands-off approach.
00:14:02
Speaker
Um, I am more of like, you tell me what you need and I will do my best. Um, but I'm an outdoors, like, let's go sit in the grass kind of girl. So many of my plants that live with me are succulents. All of them are rescues. I don't think there is one purchased plants in the bunch. Like I have mainly, like I said, succulents, cacti. I think actually that's not true. Diplindenia is the only purchased and that was only because I was at IKEA and this plant was about to die. I'm looking up because Diplindenia is a climbing tree and I've created like an entire indoor fun park, trellisy type thing.
00:14:53
Speaker
And we have a deal on how you use it. um and And so, but it was like, let's pay a dollar or a euro because we're dying and IKEA is going to kill you. So everybody else in the house has either been ah is mostly a rescue. I think, oh, there's one more plant that's, there's one more plant that that was purchased. Everybody else is a rescue. And literally, when I say rescues, I mean, like, one was in a balcony of an abundant of an apartment that was empty and the person had just left. ah Two of them were, three of them were gifted from a plant that we work with on magical operations here. ah Two of them came from a friend of mine was staging a home and had bought plants. And then of course, when they didn't need them anymore, they were just going to throw the plants out. And I was like, uh-uh, that ain't happening on my watch. um Some are cuttings that I didn't ask for, but that a person did. And they were like, well, if you don't take them, I'm going to throw away. I'm like, no, I'll grab. you know It's all plants like that, rescues of some sort but that is happening.
00:15:58
Speaker
so When plants enter into my home space, there's a ah ah lot of where do you want to live? How do you want to live? What can I do? I am here to support you as much as possible. And I have very difficult notions of you know what consist What is consisting? I don't have any kind of expectation on what a plant should look like. I don't really always understand. like I don't go and I read about that plant in detail because I find that humans oftentimes have created
00:16:29
Speaker
um The information that you put about plants, like for gardening, is based on an artificial means of beauty and artificial constraints that humans put. So I might read some basic things like, are you an annual or a perennial? But even that, as we will get into more deeply, is not always true.
00:16:49
Speaker
And so I try very hard to listen to the plant. Like, should I put you near a window? I don't do the whole shifting in and out. um If you live outdoors, it's because I believe you can live outdoors all year round. If not, you're going to live indoors. And that's based on the fact that i just I just don't think of plants as having legs and moving around. Therefore, I feel like you should have your place.
00:17:15
Speaker
And that place should be yours. And I'm sure I've moved a few plants based on what I hear, like, you know, there's, and there's some plants that I have accidentally killed. I'm very honest about it. And I struggle a lot with all these different pieces. So when tomato and basil came into my life,
00:17:33
Speaker
i I didn't know what to do. And so I listened and I have been on this path and this journey of listening. Now, I've always thought of tomato as an annual plant. um This is how I've seen Ki grow.
00:17:50
Speaker
since I moved to Italy, where you know i I was a part of greenhouses and stuff in the different nucleos that I've lived in here in Dom and Her. And also, if you're a lover of tomatoes, you know that those growing here in Italy are especially tasty. At least that's what everybody tells me. Everybody tells me that tomato is like that that Italy is the best region in the world. So much so that during the summertime here, when I was living in a nucleo,
00:18:15
Speaker
um The last nuclear that I was living in specifically, I pretty much starved because every meal had tons of tomatoes in them. So, as you can imagine, the idea of them cooking something that didn't have tomatoes, that was not part of the Italian canon. They just couldn't get to it. But it actually turns out that tomato plant is usually grown in the tropics as a perennial plant.
00:18:39
Speaker
um It's a perennial that's usually grown outdoors in temperate climates um as an annual like we basically we treat this tropical perennial plant as a annual plants, in other words, a plant that lives one cycle and dies off by human choice. Because we as humans have chosen that we want to use this greenhouse space in a different way or we want to use that land in a different way. So we kill at the end of a season all of the tomato plants um in order to plant them again. that's You can't even imagine
00:19:17
Speaker
like understanding and learning that, which I did not learn until I went away for three months... No, not three months, excuse me, three weeks, last so last winter. And I totally expected, because by this point, tomato was kind of hearty enough that had moved outdoors.
00:19:37
Speaker
and I left tomato plant and I totally expected to come home to a dead tomato plant. And lo and behold, Key was actually growing strong, like growing in space. By this point, I had given Key a pretty nice size pot. I had given some really wonderful soil. I mean, I was trying my best to create the right environment and put him put Key in the most perfect space for growth. And this made me start to wonder what other plants have we been killing off just because just because when in reality kin can grow in you know in these conditions. We can allow them to adapt. They won't be necessarily as beautiful as we might expect, and they might not you know put out what we expect from an agricultural perspective, but they can grow.
00:20:26
Speaker
And then I discovered that sweet basil is an annual, or at least that's what they're saying. I haven't had this experience personally, so I can't speak of it. But the rest of basil, other kinds of basil, all their varieties are actually perennials. So you can enjoy them without having to replant. They can live throughout this year. So Italian basil, which is who lives with me now, is a perennial that can live year-round. Now, here's the thing. here's how Here's how my mind... You get a little insight into how my mind works. If kin is native to these lands and kin don't walk, right? they don't They don't go in and out of the greenhouse on their own. They don't they don't look in that aspect.
00:21:13
Speaker
Do I have to bring basil in for the winter or can with a little support and some help and um re ah can can can kin actually can basil readapt to the current conditions of where we're living today? This is presently what we're working on. So there we have living outside for no.
00:21:38
Speaker
Yes, four slash five, depending on what you consider an individual plant. Three different pots looks from here like five different plants, but it could be that some of them are
Reconnecting with Natural Rhythms
00:21:49
Speaker
the same. Anyway.
00:21:51
Speaker
We're experimenting right now with what it means to become a perennial again, to really live. In other words, both of these plants have lost their own natural cycles due to human conditioning. And much ah like I have lost a lot of my own,
00:22:08
Speaker
you know, cycles and understanding of my natural rhythms due to cultural and societal conditioning. So it feels like what we've been working on is that how is it that we can help each other to reconnect to our natural rhythms? What does that look like? What does it mean? How does it change who I am?
00:22:28
Speaker
why Is this even the right thing to do or should I keep the direction that had been given because that conditioning maybe triggered an evolutive growth? like I don't know that yet. I can't just say outright that you know basil as an annual is better than basil as a perennial. I don't know. What I can say is that with both basil as well as tomato, I'm really learning what it means, a new level, I guess, of what it means to connect into natural rhythms. Natural rhythms that are that are deep and profound and that affect life and death, physical life and death in one case, but also life and death of fruit, life and death of leaves, life and death of flowering, life and death of many different aspects, which then translates to my own aspects of life and death and the different cycles of life that I live on.
00:23:22
Speaker
um Right now, when you go out and you look out there, you have plants that are, you know, not something I would put in a store to sell, but a tomato gave off tomatoes all season. Small tomatoes, not very big ones, but I think that that's kind of the type of tomato plant that Key is. And so these smaller smaller type of of tomatoes. And I did give some of them away and some of them I allowed to um land in the pot and kind of get recycled into the compost. Some went into my bigger compost post. The same with the basil. Like, you know, um' I'm working. I'm trying to understand what is harvesting from the plant's point of view. What is your cycle from your point of view? um What is a healthy life for you
00:24:12
Speaker
who are not necessarily here for food. Because again, I don't really eat you. Sure, I have taken some of the basil and I've eaten basil. But the tomato is not here to be grown as a crop. Tomato is living with me to have an experience. And so is, in some ways, basil. So this has really been an interesting perspective about how do you live a natural life cycle without artificial intervention, observing the resilience that that each one of these
00:24:48
Speaker
is expressing and how how that reflects into our shared resilience right the the life that we're living together because obviously this balcony is is my is part of my home as well ah as their home and so therefore it's a shared experience it's a shared becoming and also the adaptation to the changing seasons um especially with the changes in climate that are happening here um what what does that mean and how do i how can i learn which is a very big piece of of of
00:25:19
Speaker
one of what i work on with plants is How does this teach me how to adapt even physically to changing seasons, to changing climate, to changing temperature, and especially moisture level? This year has been extremely um humid, but not humid. I grew up in humid. I grew up in South Florida. I grew up with humidity of like 90%. I know that kind of humid. This is a different, this is literally water in the air, and it's it's a very interesting experience. I know that water in the air is humidity,
00:25:52
Speaker
I have red papers that talk about something else that's happening with the way water is being held in the air. And so I have found that I don't have to water as much or that I have to water differently. And then um that also means for my own hydration, my own skin, my own body, all these nuances that through my work with plants, and especially with all of the plants that live with me,
00:26:19
Speaker
I'm learning, we're mirrors for one another. We're mirrors of understanding our physical um environment at a much more nuanced level. And that level of adaptation is something that is extremely exciting. And with two plants that to me are somewhat aliens, I can see it even more. i can I can experience it at a whole different level. So the seasonality piece has is it just continues to deepen and continues to get richer in that.
Redefining Beauty: Inner and Outer
00:26:48
Speaker
The other aspect that I have found that working with these two plants is helping me do is redefine the word beauty. And understanding at a deeper level what is a natural beauty that comes from the inside out. Now, as I mentioned at the very beginning, I am am a Kabbalist. I still you know find that Kabbalah, the tree of life, and many understandings from my Kabbalistic work. And as a matter of fact,
00:27:15
Speaker
Recently, I've been having really great conversations here in Damanhur about the basis, the Kabbalistic base that runs through much of our own understanding of the cosmology of the universe is extremely enriching for me. It helps map things. It helps me better understand even very diverse perspectives. If you remember, my deep pattern, my element is is a bridge. And therefore, the the Kabbalah has has really helped me better understand how I can make these connections and how do I help others as well as myself pass from one thing to another. And beauty, for anybody who understands Kabbalah, even in a very general term, you have the Sephiroth which are the sufferphaots which are
00:27:59
Speaker
these energy centers of archetypal energy of the universe. It's a very simplified perspective. If you're a Kabbalist, please do not yell at me. I am trying to simplify as much as possible, because this is not a Kabbalah lesson. But the point that I want to make is that, you know, at the very center of the tree of life, you have to ferret, which is beauty. And already, oh, I have completely as a person who also has body dysmorphia, who has struggled with how things look for much of her of her life, that understanding of of beauty as the center, as the heart, as something that is not about an external appearance has been so liberating, so incredibly liberating and so um
00:28:46
Speaker
inspirational to helping me um move through life in a very different perspective and to move from my critical nature um that is that can be very destructive to something that's very productive and I have relied and leaned heavily on to ferret for so many lessons in life and these two plants are helping me take that to a whole new level because
00:29:15
Speaker
Their form is expressed through oftentimes very objective means in the regular world, in the sense that a tomato is only as good as the beautiful tomato, um physical tomato fruit that is that is produced. In other words, nobody really thinks about the plants. Nobody looks at the plant. I would say most people who are buying tomatoes in a supermarket might not even know what a tomato plant looks like. And yet that tomato plant is, you know, the health of that tomato plant is what produces that tomato. And the taste is not always directly related to what you see. um I have seen some funky looking tomatoes because I've had to pick a lot of tomatoes ah living here. and um And people tell me that they're delicious. So I trust, I trust in that.
00:30:11
Speaker
So one aspect is the whole fruit perspective, but the other part is just the plant, like how the plant grows again, not being exposed to these two particular plants in long periods of time.
00:30:27
Speaker
I think we all have these idealized versions, right? ah Basil is always seen in the grocery store or in some kind of nursery where, of course, we have the most beautiful specimens available. But is that what healthy truly looks like for them? And this is a question that I've been asking these plants, which is help me understand how do I How do I read your health? Is it by some kind of output? like Is it the fact that some of the basil is going to flower right now, which means it's going to seed? Is that is that an indication of health?
00:31:08
Speaker
Or because right now, if you look, the stem is kind of woody. It's not what you find in the store at all. And I wouldn't even put attractive. One of them has very green leaves. The others might have a little bit like lighter green. Some are even yellowing in times. And I'm trying to understand what this means. how do How do I water you? How does this work? How do I read you? And I don't want to read based on some picture or some artificial image of what beauty is for you. I want you to tell me what beauty looks like for you. I've already done a similar type of work with almost everybody that lives here because everybody in this house has a very unique type of look.
00:31:56
Speaker
That is because, like I said, I'm very hands-off. I mean, I water because you can't get water any other way. Although, again, like I said, the amount of water in the air means that the other day I watered, ah you know, Diplindenia for the first time in a while and and and Key was like, no, I have plenty. Stop.
00:32:16
Speaker
It's like, okay, very clear indicators I received that I don't need any extra water right now. Feel free. I'll i'll let you know. And I don't know how long it's going to take. So there's, you know, a lot of indications that the external appearance is not the indicator of health and of wellness and wellbeing. Now,
00:32:38
Speaker
Intellectually, like I think many of us on a spiritual journey know this, but it's really powerful when you live it, especially from plants that you eat normally because you think, well, if you're not healthy, I shouldn't eat you because you can't produce anything healthy for me. So I think that that kind of combination of of coming from a culinary plant, a plant that we historically eat,
00:33:05
Speaker
Just gives it a different ah different um value. Maybe that's the best way of putting it. There's a really different value in this. And it's teaching me to release expectations even further. Even expectations of things that might seem banal or things that might not that might be so ingrained in the culture that you don't even realize you have an expectation at all.
00:33:31
Speaker
And also to appreciate the unique forms that come, um the unique forms that these particular plants take in different seasons. I'm getting ready to travel. I'm going to be gone for almost, a no, actually beyond a month. And i'm i'm I have a friend of mine who usually comes and and checks in on the plants while I'm gone.
00:33:52
Speaker
And I have, you know, super clear indications for everybody of, you know, who does and who doesn't get water while I'm away because the house gets colder. There's, you know, it's just different the way the watering goes. And historically, my friend with all her beautiful, wonderful intentions has over watered.
00:34:11
Speaker
many of my plant friends, because again, we have a different sort of symbiotic relationship on the watering thing. And I don't know what I'm going to find when I come back. And I don't yet know, this is one of the things we're working on this week before I travel, is you know how much water do you want? How much water do you need? How can I you know um be of assistance to you? And and also,
00:34:33
Speaker
It's okay if you decide to pass. In other words, I also have to release the expectation that this plant wants to be a perennial. Like, I don't know. And I don't even know where, you know, where we're going. So I was out there ah ah yesterday and I was with tomato, having an experience, you know, spending some time with tomato. and And I just intuitively kind of got a message that said, hey, I just need you to cut me back a little bit. And I don't normally cut back my plants. That's just not a thing I do from a beauty perspective, unless again, I get a clear indication that it helps the plants.
00:35:10
Speaker
And the only reason I got the indication for this plant is because of the way that they're growing. It was like, no, I just need a little extra space. Just cut these pieces here. And in doing that, as I spent more time, I realized, wow, anybody else would probably think you look ugly. But to me, this plant is a symbol of so much authenticity, so much um naturalness,
00:35:37
Speaker
And the adaptation that's happening in this one body to to connect into this location that is probably much cooler than they have ever lived in or that any of their relatives have ever lived in that get sun up until a certain point of the day and you know just very just so many different changes and yet there's an an authenticity in the expression, the size of the fruit, um the direction that that everything is growing. I don't have you know leaves. Even though this is a vine, I did put a pole in case Ki wanted to grow. And one area of Ki is kind of growing up the pole. There's a banister nearby. And I've told Ki, if you want, grab onto that. Grow in whatever direction. And let me know if you need me to to hold you up. It's it's an unfolding.
00:36:25
Speaker
And the beauty of that resistance, the the magic that I feel, that that deep sense of of non-expectations and unconditional love that I feel for this plant is right in the heart of Teferet. And it's, it's just to me been this realization that unconditional love comes also from unconditional acceptance. And I, I, yeah, so I don't know if that made sense. Hopefully it did.
Gardening Companions: Connection and Synchronicity?
00:36:58
Speaker
It's also fascinating to note, I'm going to add one little element here, which is that tomato and basil are actually companion plants in gardening. They thrive together. They they harmonize together. And so despite arriving in um through completely different channels, these plants to me symbolize a deeper connection and synchronicity. it's like They wanted to find each other, they wanted to find each other here, and they wanted to find each other in order to share with me these experience. This companionship has offered me a much broader perspective on the lessons that each one of these plans. Aw, as I'm talking here, there's a tiny little, a tiny little
00:37:45
Speaker
I'm not sure if it's a swallow or a sparrow. Like, I i can't see. him Just landed out there, never really lands out there, and it's just wandering around, kind of hanging out with these plants, which I i think is a confirmation of what I'm talking about. This this type of companionship really offers me and continues to offer me a broader perspective of of the lessons that each one of these plants, every single one of these plants, is teaching me individually. And really showing me how much faster we learn together, how much more we can support one another because, I don't know, maybe tomato couldn't have survived if basil hadn't come into the household and I would have never gone out to buy basil, would have never come into my mind.
00:38:25
Speaker
But yet, here they are, these companion plants. And by observing their natural life cycles, I've really learned about the importance of embracing the seasons, of embracing um my own body's constantly changing and adapting um ah relationship with the seasons. Tomato and basil have really shown me that true growth often involves letting go and understanding that each phase of life has its purpose. And and as I allow kin to experience their natural rhythms,
00:39:01
Speaker
trying to support and hold space for them while at the same time um not setting any kind of expectations on it and really feeling giving them the ability to be whomever it is that they become or they continue to become.
00:39:18
Speaker
I discover a harmony that really transcends mere survival, even even for myself. It goes much beyond that. It goes into a whole new dimension of relationship, which is something, as you know, that I'm constantly striving for. I really want to understand all of these missing archetypes connected to relationships that the plants hold and companionship This mutual unfolding and adapting is definitely one piece of that. Additionally, their presence challenges all of my preconceived notions of beauty.
00:39:55
Speaker
In their ever-changing forms, tomato and basil teach me to see beyond the surface, see beyond just the appearances, and appreciate the inherent beauty of each stage of life, each stage of existence, their existence as well as my own existence, to enjoy every yellowing leaf and every leaf also that falls, to enjoy my own wrinkles as they start to appear, or the you know the white hairs that are appearing, which I love because it if if done correctly it means the purple just stands out more so it makes me happy and even my own coloring doesn't come from a desire to hide anything it comes from an exaltation of who i am just like those small little red tomatoes or an exaltation.
00:40:41
Speaker
a product of everything that tomato has to give in that as ah as a plant and in that experience. The beauty comes from the relationship with time and the environment, not from some external standard that humans have set for what these plants are supposed to look like. and this lesson really expands out into my own life, urging me to release any kind of expectations and to find absolute beauty in authenticity. And and and authenticity for myself, my expression, regardless of whatever anybody else whatever it whatever I may think anybody else might think about it, but also
00:41:22
Speaker
In the beauty of expression when I see authenticity displayed in front of me, the importance of holding space for that authenticity, regardless of whether or not I like what is being expressed, but more of the appreciation and the beauty of expression.
00:41:40
Speaker
reflecting on the unexpected arrival of tomato and basil, I've come to understand a profound impact that kin have on my life. And and I didn't expect it. i I never would have expected that when that small little tomato seed started to grow in my bathroom. I never would have expected how much and i that this plant has changed who I am. I'm getting emotional as I'm saying this, especially because Key is one of the plants that I look at and spend time with every single day. Every day I go out to the terrace and I spend some amount of time with kin. Often I sit a nearby in the evening maybe with a small fire now that it's getting cooler and a cup of tea and just taking in whatever kin have to give. What tomato has, what basil have, and in this moment I often call in Gary the Silver Fur
00:42:33
Speaker
who's growing really tall right in front of us in the meadow and the many geraniums that are also living out on that um balcony because, well, they also had to get rescued from sure death. Unfortunately, my municipality has keeps thinking that it's a good idea. They think it's a good good deed. It's something nice that they do to gift plants, specifically geraniums, every single year to all the residents.
00:42:58
Speaker
But because kin are also perennials that are treated as annuals in many of the areas around here, people either discard kin altogether. In other words, they they don't even collect from you know their front door where the the plants are placed or from the municipality. And then they either they don't pick them up at all or they pick them up and then just throw them out. They just don't don't water or anything like that. Or because they're not interested in the plant, they just rip out the plant at the end of the season because they think that the plant is actually an annual. So as you can imagine, every year the number of geraniums living in my house continues to grow. I think right now we're up to about 10.
00:43:43
Speaker
Consolidated into multiple pots that are living together, but there's about 10 of them out there. And as you can imagine every single year that that number continues to grow and grow and grow, but that's another tail.
Tomato and Basil as Life Mentors
00:43:54
Speaker
Basically all these plants I don't know, all these plans are really mentors and companions. They remind me to stay open to new lessons and to appreciate the natural cycles of life, also for life lessons. Like life lessons have their cycle. Had tomato not lived out this full year with me, had basil not had these, whatever it's been, six months to be here, I wouldn't be able to see this because as we know, change takes time, right? And relationships take time to develop.
00:44:26
Speaker
and plants take time to grow, and I take time to change. I take time to grow. So had I not given myself the ability to stay open and believe, and and people in the naturally conscious community have heard me talk about the fact that, i you know, at the beginning I was like, why is tomato here? um And I tried to force a, I didn't even mention that, I just remembered, I tried to force a companionship on um on on tomato that didn't work. I just remembered this. Wow, I'm going to have to take that into consideration in my reflections. At the very beginning, I thought I was supposed to combine tomato with rose due to a series of things that happened. And I tried to bring rose into my home through a friend who shared with me rose that that she had. And we we talked with Rose Plant.
00:45:20
Speaker
and it didn't work. And now as I'm reflecting on this episode, I am realizing that of course it didn't work because Rose was not the right companion for tomato. Basil was the right companion for tomato. Wow. Sorry, this these plants are really more than just companions. you know they're They're teachers and friends that deepen my connection to the world and to myself. And and through this journey, I have learned to embrace I mean, I guess embrace the unexpected and find harmony in these intricate connections that shape our lives, including these many connections to my own roots in this land and in faraway lands. So there's always this movement and growth that is happening. And hopefully through these experiences, you too will find movement and growth. So what did you think about this episode?
00:46:15
Speaker
Are the plants that have unexpectedly entered your life um brought you something different? what do Why do you think came kin have come? and And what do they want to share with you? Are you open to listening to them? I want to hear about all your stories. I want to hear all of them. So leave me a comment. And if you want to be in a place where you can talk and explore and share so many of these types of experiences and relationships, I hope you will join the Naturally Conscious Community.
Invitation to the Naturally Conscious Community
00:46:44
Speaker
the only ecosystem created exclusively to nurture these types of human plant relationships. And remember, like, comment, subscribe. There is someone out there like you that is wishing they could find someone else or some people, some group else to talk with about their own plant relationships. And every time you share this episode, you help this podcast find them and hopefully them find us.
00:47:13
Speaker
So that's it for this episode. Remember to resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. If you need support to do it, I'm here for you.
00:47:25
Speaker
Bye. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. To continue these conversations, join us in the Naturally Conscious Community, your premier online ecosystem for plant reawakening and accelerated evolution and co-creation with other kin. Here, you'll find expansive discussions, interactive courses, live events, and supportive group programs like the Plant Wisdom Book Club and the Sprouts Writing and Creativity Group.
00:47:51
Speaker
Connect with like-minded individuals collaborating with plants to integrate these insights into life. Intro and Outro Music by Steve Schulie and Poinsettia from the Singing Life of Plants. That's it for me, Tigria Gardenia, and my plant collaborators. Until next time, remember, resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. I'm out. Bye!