Projects: Why Hanging In There Matters

If you're working on a project, hang in there. Try something different. But most of all, don't give up. Give it time.

This cactus is my only plant. I'm fairly certain the only reason it survives is that it is a cactus and it doesn't need a lot of water. And that's a good thing, because I forget to water it.

All the time.

Dry as a bone when I take it down off the shelf. So I water it and talk to it and earnestly try once again to remember not to let it go so long.

It was a little starter plant when I brought it home. Just a few sprigs. But it was healthy. It blossomed and flowered ... and maybe even more than once a year, I think.

Is that possible?

When it grew too large for the starter pot, I re-potted it ... and then again when it outgrew that pot. It did well and continued to flower. Year after year.

Until it didn't.

It just stopped flowering and I don't know why. I talked to it, I paid more attention to watering and fertilizing, and did some research. But nothing. For years.

I tried moving it from one room to another, some with more light, some with less, but it never made a difference. Last year I put it in yet another location, high up on the top of a book case.

And something shifted.

It came back to life with a whole bouquet's worth of flowers. More plentiful, joyful, pink, and beautiful than ever.

Was it a fluke? Would it flower again? I wasn't sure.

It was not a fluke. It blossomed again this year with another round of fireworks ... new blossoms opening day after day.

I'm not sure what made it stop flowering, and I'm not sure what made it blossom again, but it reinforces the idea that we have to hang in there. Keep trying different things until something clicks.