They said terrarium plants (you know, air plants) are extremely easy to take care of. Even if you don’t have green thumbs, you have to be a very awful gardener to let it die.
Mine’s dead.
On Valentine’s day this year, my boyfriend so sweetly, thoughtfully gave me a terrarium, saying, ‘Roses are too mainstream. Besides, they would die soon. Terrarium will live on.’ Sorry, Hunny, I suck at taking care of living plants.
So there are two air plants on my terrarium – one’s still alive (and somewhat okay), one’s completely dead (despite me trying to Google ‘How to resurrect a dying air plant’). I tried everything on the tips section too – giving it a water bath for twenty minutes and drying it completely, giving enough sunlight and so on. Nope. It’s dead.
The moral of this story is: Not all people can take care of a plant.
Yes, I can take care of a baby (I took care of my nephew during his first months). But plant is a totally different story.
Well, at least I know now. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying to keep a plant though. I have a simple dream – to grow chilli and herbs at my small garden when I have my own house. And if that time comes, I’m determined to read Gardening for Dummies first before I take the challenge.
Which leads me to this: There are things that you shouldn’t do trials and errors on.
Another example.
I love baking. It’s a somewhat old hobby that finds itself a place in my heart early this year. So far, I’ve tried making brownies, vanilla butter cake, cinnamon tea cake, Jamie Oliver’s Victorian sponge cake and lemon pound cake.
Doing trials and errors in the kitchen is fun, but they ARE costly. One time I ignored a part of the recipe and I had a super messy kitchen to clean up after. I think I’ll reserve doing trial-and-error-ing in the kitchen after I’m more experienced.
Yes, I learn by doing things. When buying IKEA stuffs, I try to assemble the parts my own way until I get stuck. I love having my own A-HA moment.
But I guess balance is the key.
So here are some things that you should know: There are two types of learning – learning by doing and learning from others who have done it. I know that the first one is my preferred type, but a wise person learns from others as well.
(Bonus point: Learning from others save you from impending disasters too.)
These lessons are applicable in every aspect we do. Yes, even in simple things like trying to keep a terrarium alive.
Kirk out.
Photo © by Marcella Purnama.
