CONNECTION TO THE PLANT WORLD
What a great tool we have for living in the moment when we have a connection to the plant world—but it extends beyond the ‘now.’ So many remarkable traits present themselves when we put ourselves in a position to nurture and tend to plants; none better than gratitude. We should be grateful to be in a capacity to live in accordance with the wheel of life. First, we need to LEARN how to nurture these miraculous sentient beings. True, at first glance, one may think all that is required is to give them an adequate amount of water nutrients and put them in an environment with the appropriate amount of sunlight, but we soon find out that nurturing in the plant world requires much more if we’re to be successful for them to thrive. When we have a connection to the plant world, the first and second spoke in the wheel of life (LEARNING/TEACHING) is two-fold. We require the essential elements of learning to succeed, but as we go through the process, we learn from the plant itself, as it teaches us what it needs to mature beyond that of a seedling.
If we embrace the ideology of the wheel of life, we will pass on the knowledge, putting us in a capacity to TEACH—no better student than that of an adolescent; parents take note. We’ve now put ourselves in an excellent position to progress to the next spoke, that of being a PEER. Tending to plants can be achieved by anyone—and with this mindset, we arrive at the last spoke, which is to CREATE. True, the connection to the plant world creates beautiful environments, pleasing the eye sense at the superficial level, but more importantly, it creates a tremendous amount of virtues. |
Caring | Confidence | Commitment | Determination
Generosity | Harmonious | Joyfulness | Love
Loyalty | Passion | Patience | Perseverance
Respect | Responsibility | Thankfulness
Wisdom | Wonder
Generosity | Harmonious | Joyfulness | Love
Loyalty | Passion | Patience | Perseverance
Respect | Responsibility | Thankfulness
Wisdom | Wonder
In NAMASTE 2.0, I write about a video I saw on YouTube where a wise Indian Elder by the name of Fred ‘Red Crow’ Westerman relates to the audience the importance of a connection to the plant world, stating that to move on to the spirit world, great importance should be placed on this connection. At the end of the video, he made a cupping motion as if he had a tiny seedling in his hands and said, “Plant something.”
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ORCHID LOVE 101
I’ve marvelled at the plant world since I was a young boy working on a farm, watching with wonder and amazement the growing process of a host of different plants and trees. My profound connection and respect for the nurturing element when tending to plants has me possessing not one but two green thumbs. The tone of the last sentence is pure pride, superseding any connotation of inflating my ego; I'm merely establishing credentials. Inspired by Red Crow Westerman to help spread the gospel to ‘plant something,’ I’ve created a video series to educate and inspire the less plant-rearing savvy folk, debunking the ‘I can’t grow plants’ myth, thus awakening the green thumb that is assuredly in all of us.
INTRODUCTIONPLANT SELECTION AND TRANSPLANTINGWATERING AND NUTRIENTSDEBUNKING THE MYTH
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ORCHID LOVE INITIATIVE
The following is me spreading the gospel to ... ‘plant something,’ paying homage to the plant world and Red Crow Westerman. My ambition here is to inspire you to take my green thumb pride to the test. Follow the video series and see if you can get an orchid to rebirth.
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With wonder and amazement, watch as the plant goes through the different phases, preparing to repeat the cycle—fascinating stuff, indeed. The first phase, where we select our plants from the nursery and bathe in the beauty of the flowers, might be construed as the best phase in the life cycle of an orchid. At the superficial level, I would concur, but what happens next is equally fascinating. As the last flowers wilt and fall off the stem, the plant will start growing new green leaves to take in more nutrients from the sun. Then, the plant begins producing more aerial roots. Most of them stay above the wood chips, but they’re smart; they know to anchor down into the ground as it gets bigger. Once the green leaves and root system ‘mature,’ a new flower stem will start growing between two leaves, making its way upward. As the flower stem reaches its limit, you’ll notice little flower bulbs growing at the end, which has us arrive at the last phase, the blooming flowers. Now, we reap the benefit of nurturing the plant through a complete flower cycle and whet our appetite for more superficial eye candy.
Within the year, I am confident we’ll have a super high success rate for our orchids to rebirth ... tapping into virtues, putting us on the road to Namaste 2.0 stardom. The Orchid Love Initiative has the capability to create an abundant amount of positive energy. Through our direct experience of an identical endeavour, our energies will harmonize and thus produce good vibrations for our orchids to grow, creating new green thumbs in the process ... take pride. |
Here are some numbers to validate the aforementioned capabilities of the initiative to create an abundant amount of positive energy. Let's take a look at some ballpark figures, shall we?
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Out of the first million people who journey with me on the road called the Namaste Movement, half accept the challenge. Of course, we need to factor in the parents who may instill 'green-thumb' pride in their children.
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With eighty percent succeeding at the orchid rebirth, Red Crow Westerman would be proud, and those pretty lofty numbers would appear to substantiate my claim on the abundant positive energy.
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All that's required of you to participate in the Orchid Love Initiative is to purchase a new orchid and transplant it immediately to a new planter pot, one size up from its current residence. If you're not already in possession of thumbs the shade of green, follow the videos and aspire to belong to the EIGHTY PERCENT CLUB ... I'm told from there, you're en route to NAMASTE 2.0 stardom. When you gain access to the club by rebirthing your orchid, I'm hoping you could upload a photo, preferably a close-up with a neutral background. I have designs on doing something artistic with the images when we get the mad numbers I suggested were ballpark figures.
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