Why I Chose Succulents: A Love Letter to Quiet Resilience

When I first built my website, I scrolled through countless images before landing on one—a simple, quiet succulent unfurling. Something in me softened. It wasn’t flashy or loud, just alive in its own slow, deliberate way. Stillness. Depth. A kind of aliveness that didn’t need to prove itself.

At the time, I couldn’t explain why it felt like home.

Years later, after untangling childhood wounds and sitting with loss, I finally understood. Succulents are survivors—not in the loud, defiant way, but in the way of quiet endurance. They don’t shout their strength; they embody it. Soft, yet unyielding. Simple, yet profound.

The Cacti of My Childhood

My father loved cacti. Our home in Jodhpur had over a hundred varieties—spiked sentinels lining the terrace, some blooming only at midnight, their flowers- a secret gift for those patient enough to wait.

There was beauty in their thorns, their stubbornness. But as much as I admired them, I never quite loved them.

Oscar Wilde once wrote, "Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground." And perhaps that’s why I turned to succulents instead—no thorns, no armor, just gentle persistence. They don’t need to hurt to protect themselves. They survive droughts, endure scorching heat, and still grow in perfect, unhurried balance.

Softness That Holds Strength

Ogden Nash joked, "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." But me? I’ll take succulents every time. They don’t demand attention. They don’t wither at the first sign of hardship. They adapt. They wait. They thrive in stillness.

Maybe that’s what I needed all along—not the sharp edges of survival, but the quiet assurance that resilience can be soft. That healing doesn’t have to be loud. That sometimes, the deepest strength looks like a small green thing growing slowly, faithfully, against all odds.

So here’s to the succulents—the tender, the patient, the unbreakably gentle. They remind me that even in the barest conditions, life finds a way.

And so do we. Warmly,

Shangreila Sharma

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