Latest / Forged In The Dark / Root Bound
Transcript
- Forged In The Dark: Sunday did not go as planned. What I did instead and how it led to the question are you currently malnourished? What are you circling that is malnourished and the roots are bound so tightly? that they can't even absorb water. Welcome to Forged in the Dark. I'm your host, Jamie. Let's dig in. Sunday I had very social plans, and when those very social plans fell through, I did not go seeking another social activity. I looked at my day, I looked at my week, and I made choices that were In alignment with the point I will get to in just a moment. The day started beautifully, a five-mile walk with a friend outside, followed by making homemade soup. I made homemade banana bread, and I Potted one plant and repotted several others. Now that's where the story gets really good, and that's really what I want to talk about today: the repotting of plants. Now, it wasn't too too many months ago that I moved and I purged a large collection of pots. indoor pots, outdoor pots, a majority of the pots I left with the house. So There was there's one plant, it's called a kangaroo paw. It's got the the very fresh new leaves look like kangaroo paws. And I bought it probably two months ago and have never taken the opportunity to pot it. I bought a pot for it. I bought the potting soil, but I had never taken the time to pot it. So as I was finishing up with All of the cooking and all of the baking, I did a quick survey and I noticed that this kangaroo paw needed watered yet again. And I discovered that I do have it in an area that's too warm, it gets too much direct sun. But the biggest problem is it didn't have a fresh pot, it didn't have fresh soil, it was in the original container that it Came in and and as the water would just flow through it couldn't even stay hydrated. So I started with the kangaroo and I got it, I got it potted nicely with just the right amount of soil, and this this this one is super interesting because it has these runners that come off the bottom, but you can't bury the runners. So anyway, I just I I very much enjoyed the loving care that went into potting the kangaroo palm. And then I looked around at my other plants. And then I looked around at the options of pots that I currently had available. However, I didn't have the right size pots to move them up a pot. So what I did, it didn't really make sense to me in real time. But after I got the idea to relate repotting plants to you and your growth, well, when I started to go into the research of why you would take a plant out of its current pot, give it fresh dirt, and then not give it a bigger size, well, this is still replenishing the plant. So these plants I removed. From the pot, and I removed as much of the old dirt as I could. And in removing the old dirt, I stimulated the root ball. I got all in there and I mixed it up. And what I noticed in so many of these plants is they had been in these pots so long that there was several inches of dirt that could be replenished. Once I I pulled the plant out and Freed the root ball from the place in the pot where it had become stuck. The roots had grown in circles so tightly around everything that I'm actually lucky that these plants were even still alive. Not to mention, like still looking pretty good. So I went through this same process with multiple plants. But I couldn't help but to think of you. Where in your life are is your are your roots stuck? Where are your roots knotted? Where in your life are you circling and circling? But the entire area is malnourished. Where in your life have have Roots become bound so tight that they can't even absorb water, let alone grow. I mean take a minute and Think about yourself as a plant. When was the last time you intentionally took an inventory? When was the last time you got really honest with yourself about that inventory? When was the last time that you tested your own soil? And I always start the episodes with a with With a tie in that I bring back around. Because on Sunday, instead of making new social plans that even if I had fun ultimately would have drained me, sent me into the deficit, I engaged in activities that fed my body, my mind, my soul. The amazing five-mile walk with my friend fed my body, my mind. My soul. The nutrient dense soup When I eat the soup, it will nourish my body. My body will absorb the nutrients. The banana bread. Okay, I'm not going to eat a lot of the banana bread, but I'm going to receive a lot of joy in my soul from giving people banana bread who truly love it. Then I went and I got my hands in the dirt. You know, you hear people say, go hug a tree, go put your feet in the grass, go put your hands in the dirt. But these activities are legitimate. trees, nature, grass, plants, this nourishes you. On a soul level, it is very grounding to put your hands in the dirt, to lovingly care for a plant. I mean, look, it's not like lovingly caring for a pet, but in a way it is because that plant is dependent on you to feed it, to give it fresh dirt, to give it fresh water, to Release the roots that are stuck. And seriously, I want you to flip this all around and put it on yourself. Where in your life are you circling, circling, circling so much that you have yourself root bound? Where in your life is your environment not nourishing you because the nutrients have all been used up? And and and and where in your life? Can you take a walk, make super, repot a plant to feed your body, your mind, or your soul? I mean, look, I don't want to throw the word self-care in right here at the end, but ultimately How are you caring for yourself? Are you noticing the places you're circling? Are you taking an inventory? And are you making time in your life to take care of yourself? And yes, all of this from repotting plants. Literally lifting these plants out of their pots, cleaning out the pots, cleaning up the root ball. made me think of my actions earlier in the day. And and and I was proud of myself. I gave myself a little happy dance. I didn't just take care of my plants on Sunday. I took care of myself. And I'm going to ask you one more time before I go. How are you nourishing yourself, body, mind, and soul? Are you the houseplant that is malnourished and root bound? If you are, what are you willing to do to get new soil? Are you in a pot that's too small? Are you in a pot that is no longer nutrient dense? Are your roots so knotted up in a ball that you can't even absorb water? What can you do for yourself right now to repot yourself? Okay, that's what I have for you today. Until next time.