Literaire Studentenvereniging Flanor

It’s time for another Lockdown Times post! The first time Iris, our commissioner of external affairs, told you about Animal Crossing and last time Kato, our commissioner of internal affairs, wrote about her lockdown hobby which is embroidery. This time, it is Merel’s turn to tell you all about her lockdown hobby!

Thinking about everything that keeps me busy during lockdown times, I noticed that I do a lot to avoid studying. I read, I watch films and series, I listen to music, I try to draw (and always give up after approximately 30 seconds), I make crossword puzzles… There is a lot that can keep me busy for hours and hours on end. What really has kept me company though (except for books because without books I would seriously lose my sanity) is taking care of my plants. I started buying plants long before lockdown started, but I have to admit that I have bought most of my babies since the pandemic started and that my emotional investment grew immensely during these past two pandemic years.

Not only have I been buying lots of plants, I learned a lot about them as well: I read about different kinds of soil, the use of hydro grains, and the difference between direct and indirect sunlight. Trying to take good care of my plants, I bought a nice, little, yellow watering can as well as a plant sprayer. I asked friends for plant cuttings whenever I saw they had a nice plant. For Sinterklaas, I asked for a tiny pair of pruning shears and I cried out of luck when I got one. Thus far, it sounds like I’m just a regular plant mom, right? Well… Hold that thought.

At some point, my plants became more than just my plants. I felt their presence as a comforting friendship and started naming them. Not all my plants have names yet, but thus far I am very happy to introduce Charles, Momo, Kevin, Stipje, Boon, Boba, Bob, Benny and Siepie to everyone who enters my room for the first time, alongside the other 14 plants for whom I have not found the right name yet. I’ve even been busy making name tags. At one (quite lonely, I have to admit) point during one of the many lockdowns, I came home while my housemates were out and started talking to my plants. I haven’t stopped doing that and regularly wish them good morning or bid them goodbye when I leave for an errand or appointment. When one of my plants isn’t doing so well, I give them a few little kisses of encouragement, a few whispered words of love especially meant for that plant, and put on some classical music as I’ve read somewhere that it might have a positive effect on your plants. Multiple times, I’ve read poetry to them about spring so that they know that this cold winter will end and that they will have more hours of sunshine than they have now. One of my favourite poems to read to them is I wandered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth (a poem that I can recommend to anyone by the way, whether you are a plant owner or not).

I hope to see you all soon in an offline setting again, stay strong in this lockdown and take care of yourself and the people around you. If you ever feel lonely, I hope you know that you can always ask someone from Flanor for a little chat. And if you don’t want any human contact, I can recommend talking to your plants. It has brought me joy during these hard times.