The pothos made me feel guilty for being in the dark

[deep_fern]

I’ve been watching my pothos stretch toward the kitchen window all week, and it made me feel guilty for being in the dark.
The plant isn’t spiritual, it’s just doing heliotropism, but my brain keeps turning it into a symbol.
Has anyone else had a plant make them feel weird about their own darkness?

[wry_envelope_2207]

I’m gonna be the contrarian here, because I read your post and I immediately felt the same pull, but I don’t think the pothos is making you guilty. I think your brain is doing apophenia under stress. You see a vine reaching for light, and because you’ve been feeling “in the dark” emotionally, the pattern feels like a message. It isn’t a message from the plant. It’s your nervous system looking for a narrative to attach to a sensation.

As a paramedic and a parent, I’m used to my body finding symbols when it’s overloaded. I’ll feel a tight chest and suddenly I’m scanning every creak in the house for meaning. Breathwork helped me notice that the sensation comes first, then the story. The pothos is just doing phototropism. It’s not judging you. It’s not even aware of your darkness in the way you’re imagining.

What I’d push back on is the guilt part. Darkness isn’t morally bad. Humans have circadian rhythms for a reason, and rest, dimness, sleep, low light—those are part of the system, not a failure of it. If you’ve been running hot, the dimness may just be your body asking for a reset, not a sign that you’ve done something wrong. I’d keep the pothos, water it, and let it do its plant thing. If the guilt sticks around, treat it like a symptom to notice, not a message to obey.