“…The Passion flower vine developed little yellow spots that resemble Heliconious butterfly eggs, which convinces female butterflies to look elsewhere so their offspring won’t have to compete with other caterpillars when they hatch. I think of my friend who, when in a nightclub and asked to dance by a man she’s not interested in, mentions the baby she doesn’t have and watches him turn on his heel quickly…It’s natural to deceive…
…
The male orchid dupe wasp is so attracted to the tongue orchid that it ejaculates right on to the flower’s petals. Flowers that can trick insects into ejaculating have the highest rates of pollination. I think of my friend who got pregnant so that her boy friend would marry her, and then got pregnant again to keep them together when they were falling apart, and I remember that it is natural to deceive.
…
The Lithops plant is commonly called the Living Stone. These plants thrive in deserts, hidden away in rocky beds so that when their yellow flowers burst into bloom it’s as if they’ve sprung out of nowhere. Surprise! …It’s natural to deceive…
…
Caladium steudneriifolium pretends to be ill; the pattern of its leaves mimics the damage done by moth larvae when they hatch and eat through the plant, and this prevent moths from laying their eggs there… It’s natural to deceive…
…” *
Jasmine is on ” what is called ‘gardening leave’. It had nothing to do with gardening… Gardening leave is the practice whereby an employee who has left their job or who has been terminated is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaining on the payroll. It’s often used to prevent employees from taking with them up-to-date and perhaps sensitive information when they leave their current employer, especially when they are leaving to join a competitor…”
It sounds very great, right? But the problem is that Jasmine’s Gardening leave will take for one whole year!
In the year, to Jasmine so many things had happened, some joyful, some suffering. And through the ordeal journey, she found her weakness, her strengths, her hatred, and her love. She disliked, or hated, one of her neighbors. But eventually she found that the neighbor is like a mirror to reflect her personalities. Finally she was so grateful and complimented her neighbor that ” The year I met you, I met myself.”
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I can’t imagine to take a Gardening leave lasting one year for myself. That might make me feel retired too early, not useful to the society and living in the world without meanings which are always brought forth along with unpleasant challenges.
It’ natural to deceive others to survive. Like plants, flowers, insects, or others. But what if it’s ourselves to deceive? Then, it might really need an one-year Gardening leave to clean and reset ourselves.
Think twice. One year Gardening leave? It’s out of the questions!
*: “The year I met you,” by Cecelia Ahern
2017/8/17 The year I met you Damakey
