A while back my department’s office was moved to a bigger room, and we finally got to have our own desks (we call that progress and a raise in corporate America). Since I now had my own area I of course had to decorate it and make it look like I sat there. Now for those of you, who know me, know I don’t settle for anything ordinary! I started out with an office pet which was a rose haired tarantula. I am not a spider fan to be honest, but there was something about this creature that I found interesting.. maybe how it could stay in ONE place ALL day long and I couldn’t.. I don’t know. Anyhow I named it Baker, and in about 24 hours I was asked to take him home. After Baker I decided to just get a plant which was a bonsai tree from Wal-Mart (I did not name the plant).
The other day it occurred to me how much this plant, my friends, and family are a like. Bonsai trees and relationships need the following things:
· Water
· Food
· Love
· Grooming
· Attention
· Insecticides
· A cool pot to house everything.
I am sure your wondering what I was smoking or on to come to this conclusion but I’ll explain. Friendships and family are like plants, there are many different kinds, you never have just ONE, each require different amounts of water & light, each do their own thing, and each are very easy to kill. Plants however usually come with a care manual or instructions and are easily predicable where as friends/family do not.
So any how the first day I had this bonsai tree I noticed small flies around my desk and going to the plant. Me being who I am identified the problem and took action, spraying it with an insecticide. I should note that the last time I sprayed a plant with a chemical to kill something else I ended up killing EVERYTHING. But the same thing happens when friendships/family that I think an issue might be present, I feel the need to TAKE CARE of the problem. Except with friends and family you can’t spray them down with insecticide.
Two days later the plant looked sickly and unhappy, apparently the compressed toxic poison I sprayed on it was too much and not what it needed. So I filled an Applebee’s curbside to go cup with water and “made it rain”. I figured it was maybe thirsty and needed a drink; the water went through the plant, through the dirt, and out the bottom of the pot spilling onto the desk like a pool of blood.
The following day (day 3) it had a brownish tint to it, and the files returned. At this point I was sick of it, I was sick of having to bother with it, sick of figuring out what I needed to do to make it feel better and thrive, so I did what I do best and moved it out of my area and to a higher shelf where I didn’t have to look at it any more or be bothered by it.
A few days past without any contact or interference between the plant and I (I had honestly forgotten about it). I was working on a project at work (aka: nothing), when a leaf fell down from the shelf which the plant resided. The leaf was brown and look like someone how taken a match to it and scorched it. Clearly something was wrong with it, but like I typically do when someone I don’t feel like talking with calls me, I pushed it out of my way till I felt like dealing with it (if the plant was smart it would have texted me!). After a few hours and lunch I investigate the plants issue which still wasn’t clear. I gave it some more water, but not as much as last time. Eventually the plant seemed to be fine and drama free. I finally felt like the adjective “peace” that was inscribed on an ornament stuck in the pot.
A few weeks later while starring at the dying plant (it took a turn for the worst) I came to a whole new conclusion about myself. I often never understood why I was usually the one who’d have to contact everyone in my family or friends (If I usually don’t call I don’t hear from anyone), or why I felt uninvited, or pushed to the back of the group of people in social settings. But after this plant ordeal I realized I am a lot like this plant; a lot of work, a ball of emotion, and need to be constantly groomed and tended to, otherwise I “die”. I am that fucken bonsai tree, and it’s for that reason I thank all of you in my life.
“When bonsai are taken care of, you end up with a magnificent work of art that will live on for years.”
My first Bonsai Tree Care Manual
P.S… the bonsai tree ended up completely dying…the flies returned and I threw it away! I still have the pot it lived in!
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