That little leaf is kind of cute.

To be honest, I've had almost no interest in plants until now.
Even if I saw a flower and thought, 'That's pretty,' I never thought about growing one myself.

However, when I started my shop, I received a few houseplants as opening gifts.
At first, the feeling of 'What if I let them die...' was stronger, so I just watered them and occasionally put them in the sun.
That was about it.

But when you come to the shop every day, you naturally start to notice them.
Like, 'Huh? Isn't that leaf bigger than it was yesterday?'
Or, 'It looks a bit down... maybe it doesn't have enough water.'

It's strange, but before I knew it, I had started to care about them.

Recently, a new leaf sprouted from that houseplant.
It was small and still curled up.
And day by day, it started to unfurl.

Watching that, I just... find it kind of cute.

I had never thought of a plant as cute before.

But when I think about it, maybe it's only natural.
I see them every day.
I water them, and I worry about whether they're doing well.

Of course, you're going to grow attached to them.

I don't think this is just about plants.

For example, it's the same with work.
Even if you weren't interested in something at first, your perspective changes as you spend more time involved with it.

Even with things I thought I was bad at, as I dealt with them every day, I began to understand them little by little, and before I knew it, I liked them more than before.

Relationships with people might be similar.
Even if you don't know someone well at first, as you talk to them little by little and get to know them, you gradually get closer.

The time you spend involved with something really makes that much of a difference.

My shop is mainly takeout now, but thankfully, almost all the customers say 'thank you' when they leave.

When I hear that every day, the joy just keeps piling up.

Even if it's just one word, I know it's not something to be taken for granted.

This is surely the same as the houseplants.

Because I see them every day, I notice the small changes.
Because I'm involved with them every day, I start to care about them.

If I had decided from the start that I wasn't interested, I might never have noticed how good they are.

Honestly, I have almost no knowledge of plants.
I'm probably not super well-versed in how to grow them either.

But just being able to think, 'Oh, it's sprouted,' when a new leaf appears makes me feel a little happy.

It doesn't have to be a big change.
I realized that just being able to notice small changes makes daily life a little richer.

That's why lately, whenever I happen to look at my plants, I think to myself.

Plants are great, aren't they?

I think if my past self heard me say that, they'd ask, 'What's gotten into you all of a sudden?'

But I really think there are so many things you only understand once you get involved with them.

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