Introduction to Volume XI

The Last Time We Watered the Plants is an exploration of our tethers. The pieces in this volume present the different plants we all must water, and in doing so, question our responsibility to the environment, others, and arguably most important, to ourselves. These writers inquire into the plants we water, whether out of obligation or necessity, and how we can come to feel content while perceiving the existence of these tethers and boundaries.

Our first chapter, “Chained and Carved,” deals with physical space and how we give and take from the environment around us. The writers in these chapters heavily feature the structures we base our lives on, discussing how we often inadequately provide the attention needed to these essential yet undervalued components of our daily lives. This section questions what responsibility we have to our physical environment and whether we are fulfilling our end, inquiring whether we as individuals and as a collective are watering the foundational plants in our lives.

Like the previous chapter, “Pushing and Pulling” questions our tethers, but it does so in the scope of our relationships. The writers in this chapter not only assess the position of the self and other, but whether our interactions provide us with what we need. They question if certain plants are worth watering and what tethers to others can be beneficial or detrimental, giving rise to the titular concern of “pushing and pulling.” This section is an exploration into how we come to accept less than we deserve, ignoring our own need for sustenance from our relationships. With this, the writers of this chapter also provide us with the opportunity to explore what tethers to those in our lives can bring us joy and provide insight into how we can best select, maintain, and cultivate these interactions so that we are not just watering those around us, but receiving the same fulfillment in return.

Our final chapter, “Contain and Confront,” addresses how, despite knowing we live within boundaries and with responsibilities, do we come to live an existence that is limitless? The writers in this section muddle the question of how, despite what’s tethering us, do we progress or live and attempt to provide answers in the form of whether we contain or confront. This chapter discusses how we can know which option to pursue and completes our relationship with the plants around as something not just to be tolerated, but tended to in its own right.

This volume serves as a representation of all the plants, literal or metaphorical, that we have a responsibility to water. The Last Time We Watered the Plants complicates our relationship with our individual and collective responsibilities, asking what is expected of us, what we should expect of those around us, and how we can lead fulfilled lives while understanding what we owe to ourselves and others.

Hailey Brake

Editor-in-Chief