On October 29th after reading Barbara Rawson’s newsletter I became inspired by a link she had listed. I had always read books and knew of such experiments but never had I actually performed the experiment. What is the experiment you are wondering? Do words really have an effect, a physiological effect, on living things. I wanted to know, I didn’t want to take the word of someone else’s trial and error or even look at someone else’s photos because a small skeptic inside me would be wondering things like: “did they secretly pour bleach on the roots of the plant to make it die quicker?” or “Did they Photoshop the leaves to make it look as if it died more than it really did?” or “Maybe the only watered the one plant so naturally the other one would die.”
Week 1 of my cruel experiment
So off to Home Depot I went. I bought 2 plants of exact same size, type, and bought matching pots with matching soil. In my office I placed them side by side so they had the same amount of light, the same air, the same everything. Every time I watered the plants I measured out the water precisely and gave them the same amount of water, at the same time. The only difference between these two plants is 1) I labeled one plant with a note that says “I love you, you are beautiful” and I recite those words, the other plant says “I hate you, you are ugly.” I admit that I cannot recite those words daily as it breaks my heart. At first I did, but after a week and seeing the result I found it very difficult to knowingly have such cruel intentions. and 2) whenever I water the plants, I energize the water for the love plant with the electrical frequency for “perfect love”.
