Women, Selfcare, and Gardening- A Perspective From a Twenty Something by Madison Letier

Being a young woman in your twenties is steeped in magic and anxiety. Your peers are all in different stages of life and you constantly feel like you’re falling behind in some fictional race against time. Figuring out how to nurture yourself while going through your daily routine can be daunting to imagine, so many of us brush it under the rug. After weeks, months, or even years of avoidance, you often arrive back to your one bedroom apartment feeling lost and alone. You feel the urge to nurture something or someone. If you’re anything like me, your immediate thought process went something like this, “Do I get a fish? A dog? Do I beg my cousin to let me watch my niece? Maybe I get another cactus?” After an endless internal debate, I came to the conclusion that I could not take on the responsibility of a child or dog and that some sort of plant life would have to do. Luckily, I have quite the connection for gardening, so I called my mother and the team at Gardenuity to see what plants I should adopt to help me nurture myself.

Armed with soil, serum, and 3 of the cutest tropical plants you’ve ever seen, I was well on my way to a fruitful selfcare Sunday. I carefully read the information from Grow Pro on the amount of sunlight my new garden would need, how often to water it, and enjoyed the suggested microsteps that offer suggestions on how to let this little garden nurture me. 

As I sat on my patio planting my new tropical desktop garden – Lucien, Rowan, and Cassian, (yes I named my plants after Sarah J Maas characters) things took an introspective turn. Much like prepping these tropical plants for their new home, I started thinking about my own roots. How my Mom helped me grow into the woman I am today, what aspects of my past were still bothering me in the present, and was my current lifestyle providing me with proper nutrients to continue to grow as a person. After they were all settled into their planter, it was time to water and feed them. Yet again, the parallels of what I was doing for my garden was aligning with aspects of my own selfcare. Was I properly taking care of myself? Am I drinking enough water? Was I prioritizing not only physical but mental health? With the task of planting being finished, I set my garden on my desk and admired my handiwork. Finding a conduit which allowed me to explore specific aspects of my current life without judgment was game changing. It was much easier to give myself grace as I paralleled my life to my plant’s journey. Now, my little garden has become an instrumental part of my nurturing routine. As I water it, I am thinking about how I can take better care of myself. While I cook dinner, I chat with each plant because they are my kids at this point. It has become a facet of my day to day life.

Gardening allowed me to be more introspective than usual. Most women tend to have a nurturing side to them that doesn’t manifest itself until later in life. Many young women out there are busy in the workforce or wrapped up in other aspects of adult life, so they cannot find time to nurture themselves as they grow. Gardening allows you to tend to your soul in just a few minutes each day and puts a fresh perspective on why getting a little dirty is good for you.