Plant Life: An Exercise in Empathy

The famous botanist George Washington Carver said, “All flowers talk to me and so do hundreds of little living things in the woods. I learn what I know by watching and loving everything.” Carver truly learned much of what he knew about the plant world through spending a lot of time with them. He found that many plants reveal their uses through what they look like. For instance, walnuts are shaped like the brain and are considered excellent “brain food.” We can learn a lot from George Washington Carver’s forays into the plant world, just as we can learn a lot from plants themselves. While it’s wonderful to observe nature, it can be even more magical to commune with it.

Plants are willing to let us trample them, eat their fruit and leaves, and pick their buds. These nutritious, vital, and life-giving entities are endlessly generous and so it makes sense that we should offer them the same in return. The next time you’re in nature, stop and crouch down beside a plant that you feel drawn to. Examine the ways in which the plant moves and perhaps how the sun hits the plant. Studies have actually shown that when you talk to plants, they respond in their own way. Plants grow faster when people speak to them, play music, and practice kindness in their vicinity. Ask your chosen plant what it’s seen, been through, felt, and listen to its silent response. While it sounds silly, it can be a wonderful exercise in connection and empathy, as you’re actually communing with the plant and empathizing with its experience. This kind of reverent and personable interaction with nature encourages us to recognize the complexity and inherent intelligence in the world around us.

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