lessons from a succulent

i consider myself a fairly good gardener, but the tending that makes fruit and vegetables happy kills cactus.

the irony of succulents presented itself when yet another one died but i came home to two new ones on my doorstep as a gift.

i over-water, just like i over-tend to things and people sometimes. it's what people want in a pet and house sitter, but no cacti is safe with me.

this brings me to the awareness that a little "healthy neglect" might serve me, others, and my new succulent plants well. tending is not my problem.

i remind myself that, nature needing no improvement, there is a time to just let things be.

we can't make anything grow, after all, but we can give it the right environment to help it (or them, in the case of people) flourish.

that said, my intention is to try to ignore my new and super cute little plants in hopes of them actually surviving me.

wisdom from the desert, lessons from a succulent.