In a world obsessed with growth, success and eternal youth, I find comfort in the slow surrender of fragile green lives. There is a peculiar kind of solace in watching plants die. Each wilting leaf whispers a truth we so often refuse to face: nothing lasts forever.

I bought plants. Plants that promise wealth, prosperity and good fortune. The jade, with its thick glossy leaves said to bring abundance. The Chinese money plant, round and vibrant, whispered to me of financial blessings and endless growth. I believed it. The dent in my bank account proves it. The Monstera, lush and tropical, a living emblem of success and vitality. All stand proudly in the little space I call home. Green sentinels of hope and renewal, their presence an affirmation that life could be tamed, controlled even improved.

And yet, every month I buy flowers just to watch them die.

Day after day, I watch their leaves curl, their colours fade and their stems droop. A quiet, almost sacred ritual. A reminder that life, no matter how vibrant, is always slipping through our fingers.

The plants don’t die because I neglected them. They die because that is their fate.

For a time, I bask in the illusion of growth and longevity. The slow budding, the gentle stretch of leaves towards the light. Each morning, I visit these green lives, these little green promises and smile. Slowly but surely, the blooms, vibrant and intoxicating at first, wilt. The petals fall like silent confessions of mortality. Still I continue to water them, to hold them close to my heart. I am yet to name this vigil, this somewhat maddening ritual. The plants don’t scream or struggle; they simply let live. In their quiet death, I find a brutal kind of beauty.

Perhaps this is why I keep buying the brittle stems. To constantly remind myself that clinging to life’s illusion is futile. We are all just passing shadows, here for a brief moment before the inevitable fade.

I will keep on buying flowers, keep on watching them wilt because maybe just maybe, in their death I’ve learnt to live with a little more grace.