Do you talk to your plants or your pets out loud?

When you water the pot plants, or walk past the dog on the way to the kettle, do you say something?

Out loud, in actual words, to a creature or a plant that will never answer back in words.

I know people in three tribes here.

The first tribe talk to everything.

The dog gets a briefing on the day, the cat gets asked how she slept, the tomatoes get told they are doing beautifully, and the fern that is dying gets a stern word.

They do this with the windows open and do not care who hears.

The second tribe talk to the pets and would never talk to a plant.

The dog is family, the dog understands, but a plant is a plant, and they are not about to be caught chatting to a geranium.

The third tribe do not talk to either one out loud.

They might think it.

They might even feel it, a small wave of fondness at the basil doing well.

But it never becomes words, because words are for people.

Now, there is science on the plant side, and it goes both ways, so I will leave the science alone.

Here is what I think it actually tells you.

Everything is energy, and everything alive is listening on some channel or other, whether or not it has ears.

The first tribe have decided that is true and act on it without thinking about it.

The second tribe have drawn a line at the exact point where they would feel ridiculous, which is a very human place to draw it.

And the third tribe are the private ones, the marshmallow inside the hard shell, who feel every bit as much and would rather it stayed inside.

None of them is wrong, and the plants are doing fine in all three houses.

But every one of them tells you where that person has drawn the line between what they feel and what they will let be heard.

I have been in all three tribes at different ages, and I will let you guess where I am now.

So, which tribe are you, everything, pets only, or never out loud, and what do you reckon that says about you?

There is more teaching like this in The Library, and every daily post is in Daily Posts. If you would like guidance on your own path, see Readings.