Bent Stem

I was just inspired by one of the episodes of Honey and Clover, and I didn't want this inspiration to go to waste. So I stopped watching for a while to work on this blog post.

In the episode, Ayumi shares a story about her plant being bent into two due to a typhoon. When her mother saw it, she said “That won’t stand up straight anymore, so break it off at the crease. If you do that, new shoots will grow from there and you’ll have beautiful new leaves in no time.” but Ayumi was hesitant in breaking it off because she could see that the tiny leaves, on the tip of the bent stem, were still healthy. A few days later, the plant eventually wilted in the soil. If she listened to what her mother said, the plant would have lived.

The plant is just like us. We start off as a seed and grow but during the growth, obstacles get in the way. No matter how beautifully we grow, there would always be a typhoon passing by to break us. Even if it hurts, the best way to live is to let go and let a new sprout grow or else we will just wilt, and eventually die.

It's like having a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend. You grow as the days go by, but once a typhoon (say it be a break up or the person left you) hits, the stem breaks. Those who wouldn't want to let go, end up being weighed down by the negative feelings and wilt as time goes by. No one wants to be an ugly plant, but that's how some people are because of the burdens they carry in their life. So break off the bent stem. Yes, it will hurt to let go but you have to put an end to it, and let a new sprout grow.

That episode sure reminded me of how I was months ago. I had someone special and after we broke up, I thought things would be well between us, even if we were just friends. However, I felt nonexistent to him so I decided to cut off the connection, hoping that he wouldn't try to contact me in the future. It did hurt, at first, but I felt better later on because he was a bent stem that I just had to break off.

For now, I want to enjoy being single.

* I print-screened the photos from the episode, itself, since I couldn't find any nice plant pictures.