Today’s science tells us that humans have much in common with all living things on the earth. Okay, we are probably developed from monkeys; there is no news. But think about orchids, apple trees, pines, tulips, or any of your favorite plants. They look and feel incredibly different from us, but humans and plants have much more similarities than you could think.
1. We all need food.
Plants get nutrition from the ground; humans get it from the grocery store.
2. Both humans and plants crave water and can’t live without it.
We, humans, survive the lack of water even less than plants.
3. We both need natural light to grow and stay healthy.
Yes, also, you do. Open your curtains, go out daily, and read more from here.
4. Both humans and plants have a fundamental structure of living organisms – the genome.
The genome is a living thing’s complete set of genetic information, which it passes to its children. Both the human and plant genomes contain around 25,000 genes. The essential DNA is very similar among all living organisms. For example, humans share 60 % of our DNA with banana plants.
5. We both need a healthy and stable environment to flourish.
The optimal environment for a plant can be a sunny window in a nice pot with regularly watered soil. The optimal environment for humans is a bit more complicated. We flourish with a safe, stable, and loving home, something meaningful to do, easy contact with nature, a healthy lifestyle, and enough friendly and supportive people around us.
6. Both humans and plants have highly developed immune systems.
Humans have an enormous advantage over plants because we can usually escape threats or harmful environments. The plants have to stand there and fight.
7. We both might suffer from stress and react to it.
Human stress comes from different sources than plant stress. Our stress is also more often mental, while plants feel merely physiological stress.
8. Humans and plants appreciate love and nurturing.
My grandmother used to say that her pelargoniums flourished because she gave them water and talked gently to them daily. She loved them. When I was young, I thought this was just strange, but nowadays, I think that she might have been right.
9. Believe it or not, we both like to be close to our family.
Scientific research has proven that plants prefer to be near their “children” rather than near unrelated plants of the same species. When plants that are not linked are put in the same pot, they start to grow more roots to compete for water and nutrition. If the plants belong to the same family, that does not happen.
10. Both humans and plants can sense, hear, learn, remember, and communicate.
We do it in different ways. We have brains, ears, eyes, and language. Plants can process information without any of them. Plants can warn their colleagues if there is a threat around and also ask for help. It sounds unbelievable, but it seems to be true. Read more here.
Where could you flourish as a human being?
In what growth environment would you flourish best as a human being?
If you were a plant, would you adapt well to your current growth environment, or are you suffering daily in the wrong climate and place? Are you like a plant starving in a too-little pot with too little sunlight, or are you standing happily at a sunny window producing your most beautiful flowers? Are you staying in your tiny pot with strangers, which takes just your energy and room for a living?
If you suffer or grow poorly, stop and do something. Try to create a better growth environment for yourself. Take better care of yourself. You usually can do that; the plants don’t.
