I don’t water my succulents very often in the winter.

Maybe once a month. Even less if it’s extra cold out. And dark. Boo. Not a fan of the winter months.

But the other day, I was cleaning up some dead leaves on top of the soil, and I saw this little leaf just chillin’ in there.

Maybe it’s silly, or sound dumb, but this little thing gave me hope. I don’t even know how long it’s been in there. Probably several months because it hasn’t lost a leaf all winter, being dormant and all. Its will to keep going was inspiring. The plant itself is about the size of the head of a Q-Tip. I don’t even know how it grew.

But there it is.

I put it in some soil, gave it some water. I hope the little plant pulls through. I’m going to try my best to get it to grow! It has become very special to me over the last couple of days.

But it got me thinking about life lately, and how scary and unpredictable it is with this virus looming over humanity right now. It’s weird to think that something as small as a cell can triumph over something as large as a human body — millions and millions of cells working together. And yet, there’s something kind of beautiful about that. Against all odds.

I think in one way I am struggling with my own existence in regards to the coronavirus. I’m not in the high risk categories, but I am in the higher risk category thanks to my insane allergies — my overactive immune system does more harm than good sometimes, and it often leads to concurrent infections (sinus, lungs) when I get sick. It sucks. I always have to tell my immune system to stop working so hard when I come down with a common cold — steroids, sometimes antibiotics + Advil in addition to my three daily allergy medications. There’s a chance that if I do catch this, my immune system might try to flood out my lungs and I will be unable to breathe.

So, that’s a little terrifying.

It’s oddly consoling, though, knowing that I really have no control over the outcome. There’s no way to tell if it would be my body that will be the little jade plant — surviving against some crazy odds — or if would be the virus.

I’ll tell you the truth: I’d rather not find out. But at the same time, it is pretty amazing that every living thing today has survived against some pretty crazy shit already, anyway, right? I got the flu in February — totally could’ve wiped me out. A bacteria, a parasite, a driver that wasn’t paying attention one day, a natural disaster, one small misstep, hell, even an asteroid … Yeah, life is pretty damn amazing.

Still, I beg you to take this seriously. There are millions out there just like me who either know or are worried that the virus would kill them. And then there are some out there who don’t think it would, but it does anyway, because, well, sometimes the underdog wins. And while that is a wonderful thing about life, in this case, it’s also pretty devastating … not to mention preventable.

Stay home. Stay safe.

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The little jade that could