Hey Reader,
I went to a plant shop today.
"Look guys, I finally get to have a real plant in my flat!" my friend's eyes lit up. So did mine.
I'd just returned from a little plant shop with two plants and I knew, these two, a Dracaena fragrans and a Parlor Palm (I had to Google the names), would fit him and his flat perfectly. The color, the shape, the scale. One feels steady but fresh, grounded yet young. The other is smaller and elegant, like a quiet little princess from a sustainable nation.
It’s been a while since I’ve shopped for gifts.
Over time, I stopped doing it as much. Many of my friends feel financially more “sorted” than I am, and they already seem to have everything they need. So it felt especially good to give something that creates real, living value, literally alive, quietly growing, improving the space it inhabits.
“Wow, what a nice day,” I caught myself saying almost out loud, as I sat down with a coffee and started reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, borrowed from that same friend. The sun hit my face as we enjoyed the last couple of hours of daylight before it set.
And then it clicked.
In Meditations, Marcus writes about nature, about a vine that produces grapes without asking for anything in return, and how it will bear fruit again simply by being what it is.
I smiled.
I had just been surrounded by plants.
Living things that offer oxygen, calm, and energy without asking for anything back.
“You only need to water them once a month,” Gonçalo, the staff member at the shop, told me.
That was it. No demands. No drama.
And that’s when I realized:
Plants are the original community. For us. For the planet. For everything else.
Today is the day I finished editing a video about “the one thing I’m carrying into 2026.”
And yet, standing there, I wondered if the answer was simpler than I thought.
Maybe it’s this:
to be a little more like plants.
To give.
To grow.
To support quietly.
Without constantly asking for something in return.
When was the last time you went plant shopping?
If it’s been a while, maybe now is the time.
💌 Gift for Your Pocket
Quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Some people, when they do someone a favor, are always looking for a chance to call it in. And some aren’t, but they’re still aware of it—still regard it as a debt. But others don’t even do that. They’re like a vine that produces grapes without looking for anything in return.
A horse at the end of the race…
A dog when the hunt is over…
A bee with its honey stored…
And a human being after helping others.
They don’t make a fuss about it. They just go on to something else, as the vine looks forward to bearing fruit again in season.
✍️ Prompt for Your Week Ahead (30 words)
What would it look like to give more like a plant this week—generously, without keeping score?
P.S.
This week’s video: The One Thing I’m Carrying Into 2026
I know it’s only Saturday—but today already feels like a not-so-blue Sunday. : )
Lydia
Writing at Mantagaria, a Pasteis De Nada shop from Lisboa
