Watering the Tree

And what it taught me about practice

This winter I brought my first palm tree indoors to see if it had any chance of surviving.

For many weeks I looked at the few wilted leaves that remained.

I found the whole thing a bit depressing as I was convinced the tree was dead and would need to be taken out to the trash.

Just before the tree hit rock bottom.

Then, not long ago, I did what I normally do, which is talk to ChatGPT.

I asked, “If I had an automatic watering system, how much water would be needed to sustain a palm tree?”

I learned that a volume around a can of pop, once in the morning and once in the evening would be more than sufficient and possibly too much¹.

Keep in mind I probably asked it for watering advice in the past, but something about the way I phrased the question helped unlock the key to sustaining the plant.

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Within days there became signs of life. A little over a week and I noticed new shoots sprouting up. And then finally, a fan of leaves started to open up.

Reviving this large plant gave me hope, mainly in the power of AI - ok just kidding with you - no it gave me hope in general.

Because I realized that anything can be cultivated if you give it the right conditions to not only live but thrive.

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Many people struggle to practice their art consistently. Instruments sit in cases, paint brushes dry off into the corner.

In our minds we think that this is going to take a commitment of the magnitude seen in the movie Whiplash.

Yet watering the tree taught me that with a small glass of water in the morning, and maybe a glass at night, anything can come truly alive.

So the question is - what plant in your life do you choose to water this week?

1. For the record the glass of water method is not exactly the watering advice I was given, but I went with the idea and it worked. Very soon I would have to back off this schedule as too much water can be rough on any type of plant that comes from tropical or desert conditions.