Succulents really are amazing plants. The ability to store up moisture and use it for weeks, even months during a drought makes them incredibly strong, hardy and long-lived. Most of them store it in the leaves and/or stems, so the small root system many succulents have is simply for taking up water and nutrients when they’re available.

The longer they have to live on reserves, the weaker the plant gets, as one would expect. Some are equipped to deal with drought for longer than others, but all will start to get weak and wrinkly the longer they need to be self-sustaining.

As I look around my house at the succulents I bought when this project started, I find them looking a wee bit wrinkly. Most of them haven’t had much (or any) water since I brought them home, and they’re thirsty to replenish their stores. It’s a mirror of how I feel at the moment – like my own reserves are running on low, and I need to replenish them before my leaves start flopping over. Luckily, I should be getting that chance in another week or two.

The fact is, we all have times in our life when we are forced to live on our reserves. There’s nothing we can do to avoid that. And we’re going to end up a little wrinkly too, but if we make sure our reserves are well-stocked when water and nutrients are plentiful, it ensures that we’ll make it through the lean times with less overall distress.

I’ll admit, when I started this project, it was largely because I was always running a little to close to “empty” for comfort. I needed to stock my reserves, “just in case” something happened that required me to be self-sustaining for awhile. Then two weeks ago, something did happen, and I found myself calling on those brand new reserves far sooner than I thought I’d need them. While I could have used a few more, what I’d already done was enough to make a difference. Two months before, the same situation might have had far more dire consequences for my personal/mental health.

So for the last two weeks, I’ve been unable to really participate much in social media (chatting/interacting with friends), do much with my tea blog, missed a nail art post, and haven’t read much of anything (I charged my Kindle today in hopes of getting back to a story tonight, but it’s been so long I’ll have to start over with what I was reading). All of those things are “water & nutrients” for me, and the more time goes by that I can’t get to them, the “wrinklier” I get.

Even so, I know that the situation won’t last forever, and I’ve been able to do a few things (mindless games, listening to some music while multi-tasking, writing) that are sort of keeping me afloat while I wait for things to balance out again. I think this week will be just a little better, and the week after I should be able to refill the wells and start living normally again.

More than anything, this whole situation has underscored the need to live a succulent life, and to keep my leaves stocked to weather whatever drought might come next. Even with all that’s going on right now, I’m still happy and hopeful, and looking forward to getting back to enjoying the things I love.

Are your reserves well-stocked? If you’re living too close to the edge, what could you do that might make it easier to weather the next drought?

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