A relationship experiment

I have recently begun a new relationship and to ease things after being single for a while I've restricted my selection to just plants for now. Baby steps. Plants are easy to love, they will accept you even more unconditionally than animals who in turn accept you more unconditionally than humans. So, really plants are the ideal living partner and they help purify the air.


Last weekend I walked into the supermarket here at Midvalley and browsed the plant section looking for that special plant. And I found her after brief appraisal of numerous candidates, I felt certain that the one I had chosen would satisfy me more than all the others. So I stood in line at the checkout counter with my little plant... honestly I almost backed out but instead I held my resolve and soon I was walking home with her in hand proudly showing her off trying not to spill any of the water in her round glass bowl. She is of the sort where there is no soil to sustain her, she simply is weighed down in water by a few pebbles. As I walked home, I could feel my heart welling with pride and love for... JP. Yes, I named her JP because every other name seemed too human. JP stands for Jelly Plant as it says on the price tag right above $19.50.


It must seem absurd to consider a plant for a relationship. But if you've read The Little Prince you will understand, for The Little Prince so dearly loved a flower on his planet. In the exchange of dialogue with the fox on our planet earth, The Little Prince reveals that "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed". It could be said that I have now tamed my plant by taking it home.


It may seem odd, but I do truly believe that there is an exchange of love that takes place between all living beings if you allow it and that rediscovering this relationship with nature is key to our sustainability as a species on this planet. For too long now this current civilization and past ones have sought to dominate and control nature through our intellect, when this is coupled by mankind's viewpoint of seeing ourselves separate from nature it is a recipe for disaster. We are already observing the long term repercussions of such in our changing climates and shrinking resources while the global population of our species continues to explode.


JP really brightens up a room, so I keep her on my desk at work and I introduce her to my coworkers as my new relationship. To which they typically respond with a puzzled expression "oh"... and then carry on walking.