Transplant Shock 🌱

I heard a metaphor on a gardening podcast this weekend, a metaphor for the times. Which is this: When you're raising seedlings, and you transplant them from their first homes to their second (whether bigger pots or the garden), they will, invariably, die. Or at least: they'll look dead. They'll droop, fall over. If you're a new gardener, you'll be like oh wow I 100% murdered them. But this is called Transplant Shock. As the gardening podcast explained: The little plants are basically traumatized. It takes them a moment, but with some water, some sunlight and a little time, they will start to stand themselves back up.

Lately, I think, a lot of folks have experienced a short of Transplant Shock — their normal habits and ways of being have been totally disrupted. When we are shocked, our brain does wonky things with memory, perception, time. (Have you ever read The Body Keeps the Score? That's a book I recommend basically to everybody always.) When we are shocked, inside, I think it's like we become those little seedlings fallen totally over, playacting dead.

I hope with a little time and water and sunlight, you start to stand yourself back up. I hope you start to adjust to your new normal. Because as experienced gardeners have assured me: Bad as it may look, Transplant Shock is just a phase.

*Updated because at first I called it Shock Transplant, that's how new to gardening stuff I am!

Previously on Queer Prepper:

I fuckin love my compost pile
I just learned about Hugelkultur and I'm obsessed