Your Houseplants Slow Dance

 Time-lapse photography shows houseplants dance. It's a slow motion dance, but their leaves are constantly, imperceptibly moving throughout the day. A video of prayer plant and oxalis next to a clock demonstrates the continual slow dance of houseplants.

We look at a houseplant and think Oh, I know what my philodendron looks like. Look again. And again.

Nothing stands still--not even our houseplants that are pot-bound, house-bound, and perhaps root-bound. The pots aren't moving, but their occupants are.

We think we are sitting still--sort of. Standing still. But we are in constant movement in and around our home. Our bodies are in constant motion--breathing, eyes blinking, heart beating. Every thought tenses some little or big muscles in the body.

We think we are sitting still and the world is moving around us. Look again.

Skeleton in the Living Room

The forecast calls for snow tomorrow, so today my sweetie and i are running around--putting away lawn chairs, storing away any remaining flower pots, and building the solstice bonfire. What shall i do with my Halloween skeleton that has been sitting on the front step?

The lawn chairs are spending their winter vacation in the basement. I turned the flower pots upside down next to the potting shed. The skeleton is sitting in the living room at the moment, till i figure out a better place to put her. Maybe in the solarium?

One retreat center i went to had a real skeleton meditating in the conservatory, surrounded by big-leaf begonias and philodendrons and looking almost jungle-y in the winter.

The Buddha recommends 5 daily reflections: 

• I am of the nature to grow old. Aging is inevitable.
• I am of the nature to become ill--whether i want to or not.
• I am of the nature to die. Death is unavoidable.
• Everything i cherish will change and vanish.
• Karma is the only thing i own. (Think of your good and bad habits. That's it. That's what you own.)

Today, fall is aging into winter. It's 14 degrees outdoors. Tomorrow, fall dies to winter with 6 inches of snow.

Having a skeleton in my living room reminds me: every living room will also die.

A Bath of Mindfulness

In order to make way for the Christmas tree, a few hanging plants had to find temporary homes elsewhere--the bathtub.

The bathtub on the first floor is seldom used anymore. It is extremely convenient for watering the plants. In fact, the Swedish ivy, the variegated ivy, and the arrow-leaf philodendron are looking better than they have since their summer vacation outdoors. Maybe they should just continue to live in the bathtub?

Bathing ourselves in mindfulness makes us calmer and less stressed.
Take a bath in mindfulness today.

P.S. (Yes, that plaid tile is from the 1970s.)