A few months ago, a friend gave me a succulent and taught me a little bit about how to take care of my new little plant. She told me that the best thing I could do for this little guy was to stress it out. That meant giving it an almost too small container, very little water, and as much sunlight as possible.
I was ready to take on my new role of “succulent parent” and searched high and low for the perfect little containers for them to live in, (Obviously, I went with these adorable little pots because I’m obsessed with anything honeycomb-shaped!) At this point, I thought I had everything together but little did I know how much joy these little plants would bring me, and how much they would teach me.
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Lesson #1: Finding what you’re capable of.
It’s when you are uncomfortable or stressed, that when you find out what you’re really capable of. My friend explained to me that when a succulent is stressed out, it will change colors or even bloom. Pretty magical, right? We’re a lot like succulents in the way that when we find out what we’re capable of when we stretch ourselves outside of our comfort zones.
As they say, “there’s no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone” so don’t be afraid of a little stress or discomfort, it might just give you the opportunity to see what you’re really made of.
Lesson #2: Less is more.
Succulents don’t need a lot of space or water. They’re pretty low maintenance when it comes to plants. It reminds me that we don’t neeeed all the things that we think we do. The latest technology? The newest clothing trend? Those are cool and all, but it’s not going to make or break you. Sometimes having less helps us focus on what’s most important in our lives.
I refer to myself as a “minimalist wannabe” because I love the idea of having less, but I’m not quite there. However I do find that having less clutter in my life allows me to feel more free and be more creative.
Lesson #3: Even in failure, there is hope.
We recently had a small accident in our household… We were dog sitting and Austin threw a dog toy, which hit one of my succulents and knocked about 20 leaves off of it. He felt awful because he thought he killed the whole plant, but there was hope. The thing about succulents is that they are super easy to propagate – AKA start new plants!
I set all of the fallen leaves on soil, and they began to grow new plants. It was amazing and everyday I found myself checking on them and getting excited to watch them grow. Honestly, I think I had more fun watching the little plant babies grow than I would have if the original plant didn’t get hit. Oh, and the original plant is fine! It’s still growing and healthy and now I’ve got at least a dozen new plants growing too.
I never expected to learn so much about these little plants, let alone learn lessons about myself. These little guys have taught me a lot and I hope they inspire you too.
Ps. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about where you can find these little honeycomb planters. You can grab them on Amazon here – they come in a bunch of different styles and they’re super affordable!
