Mackenzie Carose

Plants and Mental Health

By Mackenzie 2 Comments

I’ve never been a “plant person”. Even though I come from a long line of plant people, garden tenderers, share croppers, and just lovers of all things chlorophyll green, it just wasn’t my thing. I could literally list for you the things I would rather do than water a plant.

But then the pandemic happened. And being home all the time makes you notice things about your abode and I saw that my apartment patio looked sad. Sad and empty. Sure it had kids toys strewn about the concrete floor, but it still felt lacking in some way. I mentioned that one day to my dad and he suggested that I should get some plants for the patio, and matter of fact, he’d swing by that coming day and we’d all go to the nursery and he would spring for a few plants for me.

So we went to our local home improvement store’s nursery/garden and I picked out a few plants and I put them out on my patio. It definitely improved the space aesthetically. But there were days when I forgot to water the plants or there were days when even going out on the aforementioned patio to water the plants seemed like too much work. But they didn’t die. And I kept at it.

Something began to shift in me although this shift took several months if I am being honest. Again, I felt that my ancestors green thumb had bypassed me. But I began to enjoy seeing my plants grow. I loved seeing them bloom into some sort of technicolor bonanza. I even felt closer to my grandmother in some way, even though she passed away over a decade ago. She grew the most beautiful roses I had ever seen and although I am not growing roses per se, I feel she is smiling down on me and happy to know that even though it took several decades, I am carrying on her legacy on my own terms.

Caring for these plants has been its own sort of elixir as well. The world seems to be spinning madly off its axis most days of the week and there are things that are beyond our human control. There is strife. There is desolation. But there is also a bit of happiness in nature and taking care of something and nursing it to an herbal fruition. Taking care of my plants calms my mind and stops the anxiety from volleying back and forth like a ball on a ping pong table. Watering my plants takes me out of my own headspace for a few minutes and steadies my breathing and causes my face to just relax.

My plants have helped me more than I know. I have even added to my collection and repotted a few here and there. I know how to repot plants! Me! It is hard to believe something so simple would make me happy but it does. We have to search for these little nuggets of happiness because life is fleeting. Moments matter. Simple things like this matter. If plants are not your thing, find something that is.

Or stumble across it like I did.

Are you a plant person? Let me know in the comments 🙂

Labels

By Mackenzie 4 Comments

I was having an existential thought the other day about labels. Not labels that you purchase at an office supply store or record labels or clothing labels. No, I was thinking about why we label ourselves. We describe ourselves with all these adjectives to describe who and what we are, these little mini-bios, so people know what they are dealing with.

For example, I have seen people put in their bios on Instagram what their Enneagram number is or what their Myers Briggs personality type is. (in case you are curious my Enneagram is 6w5 and my Myers Briggs is INFJ 😉 ) But my point is…why? Why is that particular label in your bio? If our enneagram numbers are similar, I should follow you? Why do you feel it is important to let everyone know that you define yourself by your personality type that you scored on a quiz?

And my thoughts on labels aren’t just relegated to social media bios. I’ve seen people on both sides of the fence argue on whether or not it is helpful to use the word “broken” when talking about depression, as in “I am a broken person because I have depression” and those kinds of thoughts/sentences. Some people think that it is not helpful to label yourself “broken” when trying to combat depression. Others think that by labeling yourself broken, you are acknowledging the depression and coming to terms with the fact that you are not okay. As someone who has suffered bouts of depression most of my life, I do not have an opinion either way. When you are in the throes of darkness it is all you can do to survive. If labeling yourself broken or any other adjective for that matter helps, than that’s okay. I just wonder why those conversations are around a label instead of around depression in and of itself. 

I am not anti-label. I have my own labels too. I mostly define myself by being a mother, bookworm, an introvert, etc… you get the point.  I guess my over arching question is why do we do this? I don’t have an answer, but I am curious 🙂

What do you think about labels? Yay or nay?

A Reset

By Mackenzie 4 Comments

I mentioned in a previous post that one of my goals for last year was to focus on my health. But 2020 had other ideas and so the short bursts of adrenaline that I would have in terms of getting my health on track, would fizzle and flame out. It was understandable that that would happen. Last year was hard to stay on top of both mentally and physically.

But I had a shift in thinking this past fall. Life is short. This pandemic is not going anywhere right now. We have to live. Live life. Be healthy. Stay healthy. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. I want to be as healthy as I can for ME. I am no good to my family if I am not in the best mindset that I can possibly be in. I am not aiming for perfection nor will I ever. But as healthy as I can be. The importance of this cannot be overstated.

So I laced up my shoelaces and got to work. For exercise, I mainly use my stepper or the exercise bike. I sometimes do yoga and other times, just go for a walk. I am not aiming for a Ms. Universe title or anything here folks. I am simply moving my body, sweating out the toxins, getting those endorphins. I try and exercise most days of the week with one or two rest days thrown in. Even a little bit of exercise is better than nothing 🙂

As to what I put in to my body, I am aiming for as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Some days are better than others (I like popcorn!) and I don’t beat myself up if I didn’t eat as many plant based meals as I would have liked. I try and drink enough water each day and like with anything, some days are better than others! But I do drink quite a bit of herbal teas so that helps in the hydration department.

One significant thing that has helped in keeping with my healthy habits is that I no longer drink alcohol. My reasons are varied and require a great deal more explanation which I plan to do in another post at some point, but suffice to say, I no longer drink and that has been beneficial to me both mentally and physically.

I continue to be work in progress and that is okay. Healthy living is not a destination, it is a way of life. And I am okay with that 🙂

Have you been making changes to your life in terms of getting healthy? Let me know in the comments!