Lessons of the Bonsai

Trident maple at the US National Arboretum

in training since 1895

My sons gave me a bonsai for Christmas.  Jennifer Juniper is 17 years old and grew up in Texas.  Along with Jennifer came an array of supplies – food, books, clippers and wire.  It was all very confusing at first, but I took the adoption seriously, read the manuals and tried to tune in to her special needs.

Jennifer Juniper on Christmas Day, 2009

My eldest told me that I needed a new hobby because I was spending entirely too much time talking to the birds that visited the suet feeders on our deck.   I think he was most bothered when I referred to  Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal by name and went on about how well put-together her colors were.  Maybe I got a little more excited about the birds and their attire than I would have had my life been filled with more human interaction like one gets when employed and around people all day.

 Serissa

Soon after Jennifer’s arrival, the three of us visited a local nursery that specializes in bonsai and got Jennifer a sister, Serissa.  It seemed fitting to have a tropical plant to round out the sisterhood and provide more things for the unemployed to be obsessed with.

Each day since, I have watered and misted the sisters, plucking dead leaves from Serissa and until recently have let Jennifer to just rest until it was time to go outdoors.

Last month, when it started getting warmer, I put Jennifer out on the sunny deck and she experienced rainfall and real sunshine and cold nights and warm days and had quite a variety of experiences.  It must have been overwhelming at first, but she responded with lots of new growth.  Because she arrived in the dead of winter from a much warmer climate, she lived indoors until the spring.  But from now on, she will live outdoors and enjoy the change of seasons, as junipers generally do.

The only way to keep a bonsai a bonsai is to keep it trimmed so sadly I had to clip the one tiny pinecone on Jennifer’s boughs and Serissa also requires regular pruning.

 Serissa 2

Earlier this month, my eldest and I took a bonsai class at Wolf Trap Nursery.  We were very excited about it and arrived eager to plant our very own bonsai and learn more about their care and feeding.  It was held outdoors and surprisingly cool that morning, so we huddled around the wire mesh-topped tables after anxiously choosing our plants.  He chose a Serissa with interesting exposed roots and I chose a ficus.  Making a selection of pots was difficult as there were many colorful choices and we each wanted the one was that was perfect for our adoptee.

 Frank Ficus

We carefully trimmed and shaped our trees, planted them with utmost care and each ended up with lovely small plants to care for.  The instructor was very complimentary of our work and we felt extremely proud that we had followed instructions carefully and were not afraid to heavily trim our adoptees down to nearly half their size. 

We brought Jennifer and Serissa to the class so that the instructor could counsel us on their care.  He told us my care of them had been nearly expert and they were very healthy.  He suggested giving Jennifer a good haircut and exposing more of her trunk and branches.  On the way back to the car, my son gave me a high five and a hug and said “Mom, we rock at bonsai.”  It was a special moment.

 The Serissa Sisters, Jennifer Juniper and Frank Ficus

Since then I have felt a bit more of a burden as the adopted mom of now four plants.  I am starting to feel like this could get to be just a little bit addicting.  Every morning I care for them and fuss over them (and yes they do get verbal encouragement, as well).  It takes more time with four than two.  But it is a healthy hobby that gives me a great deal of satisfaction and you see up close every day the results of your love and attention.  Raising other living things, be they children or animals, is like that and the rewards are great. 

I am still actively seeking my next career move.  Truth be known, I am also adapting to the pleasures of being home and learning lessons from the bonsai, the old yellow dog and the robins that must be planning a bumper crop of babies this year.  In honor of the Serissa sisters, Jennifer Juniper and Frank the Ficus, I share these lessons.  It is a list in progress.  Every day I learn something new.

Life Lessons from the Bonsai

• Waiting is part of the experience.  While you wait, you watch and attend to all the other things in the environment and experience things you wouldn’t have taken the time to absorb before.  That is probably the most important lesson of unemployment and the one I struggle with the most.

• Good things happen slowly; you are in it for the long haul.  Bonsai live for hundreds of years with proper care.  Finding the next career path is not a fast process when you are making drastic changes.

• If you discard excess you will see what is beneath. Trimming excess growth from the trees involves careful use of the shears to eliminate the unnecessary and expose the beauty of the shape.  When you are making a major career change, you need to throw off the excess, such as generalizations, fears, old baggage and things that hide your branches and trunk. 

• Nutrition is very important.  In a tiny little pot, a beautiful thing grows slow and healthy with the proper balance of food; fighting the tendency to overfeed is a constant problem.  Like the bonsai that has been repotted or had its roots and branches trimmed, people under stress need to consume balanced meals and fight the inclination to overeat.

• If you dry out, you will die.  The bonsai depend primarily on water for their nourishment and neglecting hydration for only a few days can damage or even kill them.  People can live on water alone for some time, although we are not designed to subsist that way for extended periods.  But daily consumption of plenty of plain old H2O is key to survival and good health.

• Sun is very important.  Many bonsai need considerable sunlight to promote healthy growth, prevent disease, do the photosynthesis thing and dwarf  (ultraviolet life dwarfs leaves and ideal conditions are to give them almost too much light); but with too much sunlight they will dry up, sunburn and be damaged.  In the throws of a major job search, people have a tendency to isolate, stay indoors on the internet and telephone and not get enough vitamin D (produced when you are exposed to ultraviolet light), which is important for preventing osteoporosis, some kinds of cancer and even depression).  Likewise, if we spend all of our time outside playing in the sun, we don’t accomplish our goals and have other health problems.

• Resting in the shade is important too.  Too much sun is not good for the bonsai; they get too dry or too hot and deters proper growth and nutrients are diverted to fight the overexposure.  Resting in a quiet, shaded spot is good for the soul and body of the unemployed who cannot search for a job nonstop without the proper rest.

• Cutting back promotes growth.  Eliminating branches and leaves and allowing the bonsai to focus its energy on developing young, smaller growth is important in its development.  As we face major life changes including job searches, it is often necessary to cut expenses and reassess priorities and necessities; in the process we gain strength and wisdom . 

• It is more interesting to have diverse friends.  Jennifer and the Serissa Sisters and Frank Ficus mix well together; they look fantastic as a foursome and yet each have their individuality.  Particularly during a career change and job search, we need to have many friends and contacts to support and help us see ourselves in different lights and strengthen our outreach.

• Trust your master that you will be well cared for.  As long as I am the keeper of these bonsai, they will be well tended and their growth will be according to a plan.  God has a plan for us, and the seasons of growth, cutting back, resting, basking in the sun, waiting, and waiting some more are all part of it.  We must trust, and comply, give all we can and at times grow weary, while we allow our master to do his work.