In praise of plant intelligence
These days it can be difficult to know what to believe. What is true, real, authentic? In short, what can we trust?
Some time ago it dawned on us how easily images could be ‘photoshopped’, and then this spread to the moving picture with its extraordinary renditions of dinosaurs jumping out of the screen. I recently went to a concert where the main stars were holograms. It plays with your mind. You have to suspend belief.
Meanwhile we are fed a diet of fake news, and (when we are honest with ourselves) we know we favour those messages which resonate with our own belief systems, serving only to strengthen them. And then there is AI to contend with…
Truth and stability
So what remains for us to rely on? Where can we find truth and stability?
The examples above are all audio-visual. Hearing and vision seem to be our most easily fooled senses, the most easily misled. Perhaps this is the last place we should rely on in our quest for certainty?
But think for a moment about a fairly typical day in the life of a significant portion of the population. Where does the stimulation come from? There’s a tendency on waking to look at the mobile device, to listen to TV or radio over breakfast, radio on the commute to work, stare at a computer screen all day, podcast on the way home, TV in the evening. And, throughout the day, constantly dipping in and out of social media. An audio-visual day; to be followed by another.
Plants speak only truth
It’s so easy to be deceived by audio visual cues. But touch never lies, nor does aroma. We don’t talk about virtual touch or virtual smell.
When we sit with a plant or with an oil and inhale her gentle fragrance, when we let go for a moment and allow ourselves to be taken on that deep inward journey and see where in our body it takes us, we realise that plants don’t lie. They tell us truths. Some may be uncomfortable, but they speak to us sweetly.
With essential oils and with an aroma massage we find something we really can rely on, something that is, at the very least, our own inner truth.
So maybe make time over the holiday season to connect with plant intelligence. Spend time with your oils and see if they have something significant to say to you.
