Toxicity into Beauty?

January 2026, a cruise to the Canary Island of Tenerife brought me to the Palmetum in Santa Cruz. It was stunning, 12 Hectares in the busy city dedicated to the preservation of palm trees. I didn’t plan on visiting beforehand, I didn’t know much about it in all honesty. I strolled, sat, took pictures, enjoyed a sunny day. But when I visited the little museum at the end I learned something extraordinary about that site. The site was reclaimed land from the sea; it was originally used as a centre for managing contagious diseases.

That doesn’t invoke the happiest of memories for many, all our human past we have battled disease and each generation has a way of dealing with it. For our generation, we have Covid-19 and the isolation that brought so many. The mental impacts of that disease have imprinted on millions, and it affects will continue to be felt for years to come. After it was used for isolation, it was up until 1983, used as the city’s main garbage dump. That beautiful garden I strolled, full of palm trees from around the world, some endangered, birds and other wildlife, beautiful sea views was in my lifetime, transformed from a noxious, toxic dump into a place of happiness and fulfilment.

Deciding to make that massive leap from dump to garden couldn’t have been easy, and would have at times been dirty, hard, expensive and gave many a contractor and project manager headaches and sleepless nights. How can we learn anything form this? How does a dump in Tenerife help me do the same? It all started with an idea, a want, a dream to change. That’s change didn’t happen overnight. It took planning, they didn’t wake up one day to find a botanical garden, it took many years. There were people against it, working to conspire not to change as it cost them something. Sometimes when we want to turn something toxic around it doesn’t always benefit other people. We must be weary of this, is our resolve strong? Do we know we are doing the right thing? If we know things must change, how do we go about it – things don’t happen spontaneously or by chance. Knowing that you want to change is the first step, maybe you don’t even know what must change for your life to improve. You may need to really sit with your self to figure that out. A counsellor can help you in this, we can walk with you and give you the space and tools to figure this out. Not having everyone on your side when you want to change can be tough, friends and loved ones may not be supportive at first. Even when they are, they may simply not know how to help.

• Don’t over pressure yourself, change doesn’t happen overnight and just because we tell it to
• Seek support from those around you, family, friends, counsellor. Tell them what you need and see if they can help.
• Focus on quick wins, long change can be hard going on your resolve, resilience and overall mental health. Focusing on small things you can do quickly through out your process helps you stay on track
• If you are Neurodivergent, you may have additional challenges that go unseen and are difficult to explain to others. Focus on your end goal, seek support that is aware of your unique challenges. As someone with ADHD, I totally get this.

Good luck, change isn’t easy – I’ve spent most of my career helping people change, be it in work environments as a project manager or domestically as a counsellor. I can be here with you, if you want me.