Go outside and touch some grass
I recently started working part-time in a role that requires a lot of spreadsheets and Google Docs. By week two, I now own blue light glasses and had a huge second monitor delivered courtesy of the company. When I take a quick break from my work day, I pull out my phone and scroll. Then, when I'm done for the day, I might do a quick Pilates routine before cooking dinner, plopping on the couch, tossing my prosthetic leg to the side very aggressively, and turning on my TV show lineup. On the weekend, I pull out my personal laptop to write these blog posts. So when I heard someone say, "Get outside and touch some grass," I had to stop and think when the last time I did that was.
I sit on restaurant patios for happy hour, but that can't be what the expression means. This morning, the air was particularly crisp, and since that meant I wouldn't have to worry about my prosthetic leg sliding off with a puddle of sweat, I thought, why not get outside? So I did the next best thing to touching grass: I gave all my outdoor potted plants some much-needed love. I replanted the overgrown ones, wiped down the leaves, gave them plant food, and watered and drained them all. And you know what? It felt really good.
We're all so attached to our devices that we forget to take a moment to soak up some sunshine and disconnect. We work on a screen, then we relax in front of a screen, and when it's time for bed, we scroll on a little screen and act like the reason we have insomnia isn't because we don't put the little screen down.
The moral of this story isn't that you should stop watching so much TV or scroll less at bedtime because I doubt I'll be changing any of those habits if I'm honest. I'm behind on the latest episode of white lotus, and I'm in the middle of a 42-part TikTok series called "How I Caught My Husband Cheating with my twin sister," and I've got to see how that ends. But, occasionally, getting outside and away from your phone to pet some plants or let the grass touch your bare feet can do wonders for the soul… and also for your plants.
