365 Inspirations—303: Ginormous Plants in my Living Room

“We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.”—
Desmond Tutu

My husband was given the gift of plants on more than one occasion for his yoga studio. That studio is gone, but the plants live on. And let me just tell you about these plants....

They started off as little itty bitty things and, after all the inhaling and exhaling his yoga students did over the years, those plants are now GINORMOUS. Believe me when I tell you that often after a vigorous yoga class at the studio, the windows were so steamed up from all of our huffing and puffing that the atmosphere was akin to the Amazon rainforest—perfect for plants!

These are the kind of plants that might just eat you in your sleep—The Little Shop of Horrors variety.

And I love them.

All the good energy that was in my husband's studio is now shifting to our house.

I love all the green. It's like we have several new family members. He had these plants outside, but he doesn't want them to die, so they are inside now. They are temporarily in our living room, but we may move some to the bedroom. We are still sorting it out.

I will say that I love the feeling of these plants and all the green. It makes it so homey and they make me happy.

We had tiny succulent plants throughout the house, but have never had bigger plants.

Do you have many inside plants? What types of plants do you have?

365 Inspirations—156: Endings and Beginnings

With some of my students this quarter

“All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.”—Mitch Albom

Another quarter is almost over. In the  almost seven years I've been teaching ESL at a community college in the area, I've seen hundreds of students come and go. Sometimes I see them in the hallway a year later and many of them say, "Teacher, do you remember me? I was in your class last fall."

 I usually remember their faces, but remembering hundreds of names is another thing. There is something about a face I can never forget and I try to remember their names after they've come and gone, but I often have to be reminded. I will say that while they are studying with me in any given quarter, I'm very quick to have ALL of their names memorized within one week of classes! I can have up to 100 students in any given quarter, so that's pretty good. I have to put their faces, names and something about their personality all together.  Every single one of my students has something unique and memorable about them.

Sometimes I can have up to 20 nationalities in one class. This quarter I had students from Gambia, Madagascar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Guatamala, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Russia, Ukraine, Korea, China, Taiwan, Israel, Morocco and the list goes on....

I sometimes forget how rewarding my job is. I've done it for so long that it is kind of second nature. I'm often so touched by the stories my students tell me about their cultures and about their lives. We all learn from each other.

Now that quarter is almost over, I realize that the time we spent together was important and precious. During the quarter, when things are busy and I'm checking papers, preparing lesson plans and helping students, I can forget how wonderful it is to do what I do. It is only when I reflect on our time together that I'm reminded of how lucky I am.

So another quarter is over, but there is another one beginning soon. I'll finish this quarter on June 12th and I'll start teaching summer quarter on July 1st! Another beginning!

Speaking of beginnings, today my best friend gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, but it is not her baby. She decided to be a surrogate mother for a friend who is unable to have her own children. What a joy it was to hold this child on the second day of his life today! So fresh and new to the world! I'm proud of my friend for her selfless act of kindness. She is an inspiration. Here's a link to the post I wrote about her.

Have you had any memorable endings or beginnings recently?

365 Inspirations—32: House Plants

Plant in Yoon's Yoga Bliss lobby

“We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.” —Desmond Tutu

When it's dark and dreary outside, like it often is this time of year in Seattle, house plants can do wonders for one's mood. I don't have many house plants, but the ones I have make me so happy. I tend to select succulents. I think I was supposed to live in the desert because I gravitate towards all desert-type plants. That, or the tropics, as I am a big fan of palms and my favorite flower is plumeria.

I don't think I have a green thumb, but succulents and cacti are really hard to destroy. They seem to live through anything. It's one thing to live and quite another to thrive. My husband was once given a gift certificate to buy plants when he first opened his yoga studio. He bought three plants and I can't remember the names of any of them.

The one in the picture was so tiny when he bought it. I thought, how is that things going to survive being locked up in a yoga studio? But the dear plant proved us wrong! It looks like something that belongs in the Amazon. It's absolutely HUGE now and just keeps growing. My husband does not give it any fertilizer or anything. He waters it every now and then.

Whenever I go to yoga class and see this huge plant in the lobby of my huband's bright, sunny yoga studio, I suddenly feel happy and full of energy. It's "the little plant that could" to me. I never in my wildest imagination thought it would grow this much.

It's inspiring to me that it's thriving and so strong now. Some of the yoga students say it's from all the good energy in the studio. Often times, after a yoga class, I notice that all of our effort moving our bodies has actually fogged up the windows. This plant is getting all of that nice oxygen and we are producing it!

Plants that grow and thrive remind me that anyone of us can do the same despite any current situation we may be facing that seems trying or difficult. House plants add life to an otherwise "dead" winter where things are not growing or in bloom. House plants are second to pets. They are living entities that also need care and love, just like we do.

Do you have any house plants? What kinds do you have? Are they thriving? Do they make you happy?