Plants, Animals, and the Lessons They Carry

Plants and animals have always been a big part of my life.

From my mother’s wisdom with herbs to her willingness to care for every injured creature that crossed her path, I inherited both a reverence for the natural world and a tendency to step in as caretaker.

Sometimes, that care is beautiful. Other times, it edges into self-sacrifice, the kind where we give until we are depleted. There’s a shadow work nugget here: the urge to prove ourselves. “Don’t you see how much I care?” That seeking of misplaced validation.

If this feels triggering, that’s okay. Please know I am not judging you, and no one outside of yourself is either. Even if others have judged you in the past or may again in the future, those opinions only hold weight if you allow them to. Easier said than done, I know, but hang in there.

The truth is: awareness is the first step.

The patterns we inherit, whether from family or experience, live in us. They show up in our choices, our habits, our default ways of being. The beauty? No matter where we are in life, when we pause long enough to notice, we can start to shift. We can start to witness those thoughts, mindsets, and behaviors with the intent to understand and accept the happenings in our lives. I say this as respectfully as I can, for everyone experiences life differently.

This blog was inspired by a recent event. I’ll spare you all the details, but it started with a memory I had the I seemed to relive as I was remembering it.

When I was a kid, I stepped on a yellow jacket. My mother knew exactly what to do, without missing a beat, she mixed up a paste of plantain and baking soda, and pressed it gently to the sting. At the time, I didn’t realize just how deeply this moment would impact me. Not so much because it hurt, but because of how my mom handled it.

Years later, I found myself telling my yoga teacher how my mother had shaped my life in the most beautiful of ways, mentioning the yellow jacket story and how the women I surround myself with hold me and love me in ways I can’t describe. I kid you not, literally the same day, it happened again. I stepped on a yellow jacket while I was with her and a dear friend of mine.

This time, it was that dear friend who came to my side, who jumped right into action. She knew to search for the plantain growing nearby. Just like my mother once had, she tended to me with care, and I realized in that moment how life has a way of circling back, reminding us that the love we once received flows forward in the love we now allow ourselves to accept.

Practice Nugget for Today

Take a few breaths and reflect on the moments in your own life when you were held, tended to, or guided by others.

Ask yourself gently:

Where in my life am I still giving past the point of nourishment?

Do I recognize when my care crosses into self-sacrifice? And what would it feel like to offer care without needing it to prove that I am enough?

If you’d like, sit with these questions in stillness or journal them out.

Then place your hands over your heart, close your eyes, and breathe deeply into that space. With each inhale, remind yourself: “I am already enough.” With each exhale, release the need to prove it.

With all the love,
Alee