House plants.

I am as far as it gets from being green-fingered. In the past even the most resilient of plants passed away in my care. This is why I've kept to cut flowers to brighten up my living space: they are supposed to die within a week, so no guilt involved.

Bu now that I have my own little place, I really wanted to give plants another go. Plants can purify the air, they look pretty and generally make the space feel so much more put together. I'm proud to report that some plants are with me for almost 6 months now and all are alive and well.

Since I can be a little forgetful, I prefer plants which are forgiving and can cope with long periods without water. 

Devil's Ivy was my first purchase and I've managed to keep it going since summer. It doesn't need that much light, can be watered roughly once a week (in practice I water this beauty less frequently. Allow soil to dry before watering again). I love the hanging stems and heart-shaped leaves. My plant has gained quite a bit in size, so it will need to relocate to a higher spot soon, but for now it is a wonderful decoration in the living room.

I bought Zamioculcas on my sister's recommendation. It is a plant which is so low maintenance that you an virtually forget about it for weeks and weeks. Mine lives in the bedroom, a rather dark room and it is doing fine, it actually grew a few new shoots since I bought it in Novemeber.

Apart from these two that are my absolute favourites, I also have Anthurium, decorating the entrance corridor to my flat, Aloe Vera which currently lives on the dining table and some roses, but these seem not to enjoy my house environment and I am waiting for them to go beyond the point when I could still save them any day now.

I didn't know how beneficial having plants around me would end up being. But I love looking at them and they make me feel better. After a long and difficult day at work when everything seemed to be going wrong I can come back home, sit in my favourite armchair and admire my plants for a few minutes, thinking about how much they have grown, about different patterns on the leaves and any plans to move them to bigger containers in the spring. It might sound silly, but it allows me to switch off completely and just appreciate the simple things.

I will finish with the words of Peter Zumthor, a Swedish architect:

My relationship to plants becomes closer and closer.

They make me quiet; I like to be in their company.

Sunday Special: Don't settle for OK.

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

I'm a nice person. I try not to gossip. I share a kind word with my co-workers every day. I smile at people, don't pick a fight and are able to say sorry (most of the times). I give people the benefit of doubt. I make time for people who matter for me. I turn up for work every day and do my best. I pray regularly and make use of the sacraments. 

Overall, I think I am doing OK.

But being OK is not what I have been created for. I was created for the life of holiness. Jesus made it absolutely clear that mere adherence to the rules of faith is not sufficient. Remember the young man who came to ask Him what he should do to enter the Kingdom of God? Jesus first of all asked him to do everything according to the law, but then He asked him to give everything up and follow him.

This is a challenging call for me today. To give up my worldly attachments and focus on the thing that is eternal. To stop trying to make my life all nice and comfortable at the expense of others, but to go out of my way to serve the most vulnerable. To learn to say ''I'm sorry" to people I alienate from myself. To bear difficulties with patience rather than constantly complaining about minor inconveniences. To always give thanks to the Lord, never attributing my success to myself alone. To bring the light of Christ to those who lost all hope. To do everything for the greater glory of God.

Don't settle for mere OK. You have been created for holiness. It is not about some sort of perfectionism. It is about becoming who you are intended to become from the beginning of the world. This means being in communion with God. Breathing His Spirit every moment of every day. Becoming holy means a constant transformation so that we are more that the One who created us.

In this season of Lent, I want to journey towards the Easter morning in such a way that I will truly recognise the Risen Christ, that I will see His wounds and His glory through a purer heart, tuned to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It will require a serious change of heart. No more mediocrity, just learning to be holier, day by day.

“Let them look up and see no longer me—but only Jesus” Blessed John Henry Newman

Digital declutter.

I have recently left my phone at home when I went for a walk and the urge to reach into my pocket and check if anything popped up on the screen was terrifying. I didn't need it do it. It wouldn't add any value to my life. And yet I craved it so much!

It got me thinking really hard about my relationship with technology. I'm not spending hours and hours of my life online, although I do catch myself going down a rabbit hole of videos, pictures and posts sometimes. I can endlessly search for something on the internet and click link after link.

So I thought that, given that it is Lent now, I will perform a digital declutter as suggested by Cal Newport. I recommend his newest book Digital Minimalism as an interesting background reading and a lot of inspiration. I listed all my optional technology use, decided what to ban and what to limit to a defined set of operational procedures.

Can I stick with it until the end of Lent? Maybe. I know some things will be easier than others. I can probably survive without browsing Facebook, but can I stop compulsively checking my email? Deleting social media from my phone was easy enough, but will I be able not to reach for it so often?

The key to success, according to Newport, is to replace optional technology use with high quality leisure activities. This is probably the more challenging part of the digital declutter. I am used to mindlessly engage in web-browsing, watching videos and checking news sites. Changing this habit into thinking through how I spend my free time requires that I treat leisure seriously, as an important part of my life. I plan my work activities, why shouldn't I plan what I do when I don't work or sleep?

My aim is to plan a leisure activity for each evening. So far I have scheduled in reading, which I do pretty much every day anyway, Clubbercise, baking, making a scrapbook, walking, playing the piano, stretching exercise and joining a book club. I really hope that I would be able to find new joy of leisure in the coming weeks and maybe even discover long-forgotten talents and hobbies.

I suppose that it is quite lucky that my digital declutter coincides with Lent: I need to refocus on my faith and all the digital media often interfere with it. I hope to empty my mind of the cacophony of voices and find peace.