If you know me fairly well, you most likely know about Cleopatra. Perhaps you even have one of her offspring. I've been known to gift her vines to my closest humans and even drove one small offshoot, in a tiny vase of water, all the way home to Michigan last year to give my Mom for Christmas.
Cleopatra is expansive, she is adaptable, she is exquisite. She is my philodendron and she is me. In a series of synchronicities, I was gifted this incredible plant on my 35th birthday.
It was perfect timing.
Multiple moves later, she has proven her deep resilience and is still with me. At times I have felt consumed by her presence. A little claustrophobic to be honest. She is so big. But living under her enormous arms has felt like a loving embrace, a constant reminder of the power of nature and the peacefulness she brings with it.
I tend to Cleopatra with love and attention. I speak to her with kindness and adoration, asking what it is she needs. She tells me if she's thirsty, too hot or in need of a supplement. At first, I thought I might be a little crazy to be communicating with my plant in this intuitive way. But that feeling vanished years ago and my ongoing conversation with her has resulted in a very robust and healthy houseplant.
At the height of my illness last winter, Cleo was left in our home and watered every few days by my husband. She began to wilt without my presence, her leaves turning shades of yellow, leaving barren spots on her vines after falling to the floor.
Now in our new home, something incredible is happening. Just before my near death experience, her longest branch had gotten sick and died. My family felt the sadness of it and my daughter even cried. The branch was at least 50 feet long and curled almost all the way around our living room. To amputate the longest branch felt like a death so we buried the branch in the earth alongside our pet frog and betta fish.
However, in the way things happen if you are paying close attention, the timing of this lined up perfectly with the timing of my personal healing story. The loss of Cleo's largest branch coinsided with the loss of my longest standing traumas. The healing I have undergone since has been nothing short of miraculous. Bearing witness to this, Cleopatra has been transforming right beside me. There are new bright green shoots and leaves peppering her remaining strong and healthy branches. All growing in the blank spaces of the old lost leaves. Remarkable, for I had no idea this could happen. And after losing a large percentage of my own hair, it is also growing back, wild and free.
Over the last 5 weeks, I have been helping her heal from an infestation of pesky and stubborn gnats. This is in alignment with the last remaining mold toxins I am clearing from my own being. The more I listen and trust what I hear, the healthier she is becoming.
And so am I.
Today, she is full and strong. She is growing rapidly and unfurling new leaves faster than we can see. It feels magical.
She is my philodendron and she is me.
#wildpeacewellness #plants #intuition #manyvoicesofnature #areyoulistening #plantmagic #philodendron
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