The Power of Flowers (very groovy)
Flowers. I’ve been buying a lot of flowers lately. Something about the newly brisk wind spanking my flushed cheeks has me dreaming of summertime.
Although I’m aware I can’t be outside 5 minutes before pitting a t-shirt with criminally uneven sweat stains; I long for a warm, sunny walk outside with my buddy King to admire our native greenery. Although I’m not particularly fond of where I grew up for the sake of rebellion (just kidding…kind of), I always find myself ever-so-slightly, dare I say, happy? Perhaps even joyful? by the presence of an abundant green lawn casually studded with those colorful, stinky lil’ guys.
Nearly every time I’ve waltzed my way into Trader Joe’s over the past few months I’ve been resistant to leave without perusing the floral situation. I’ve become quite fond of my new ritual and increasingly familiar with my findings. I’m digging eucalyptus leaves. And chamomile flowers. Those spiky purple ones which are actually my favorite, but I can never remember the name of. I’m ‘branching out’ from the basic rose, tulip, lily. I’m elite, florally speaking. (In my own mind.)
When my creative work begins feeling boring or stagnant, I tend to test an obscure form of my creativity. It needs a different kind of exercise to measure how far it’s truly come, how potent and expansive it can be. Preferably using a medium I hadn’t experimented with in the past. Which is how I decided I wanted to create and stare at beautiful flower arrangements.
That is, of course, until the day my glorious creation’s putrid stench becomes reminiscent of a rotting rodent corpse, effectively permeating my kitchen. The bouquet served its purpose, therefore, expired. Time to start over and try again, this time with new colors, textures, scents and vessels to display them in.
My findings of observing this lifecycle brought me this conclusion; if you’re feeling stuck, keep going. Find something that excites you and embrace it, especially if only for a brief time. Chances are joy is in plain sight and has been all along. Enjoy things while they are bright, fresh, young, beautiful and alive in the moment you are sharing with them. Then let go when their time comes to depart from you and return to the earth. Everything blossoms simultaneously as another decays.
Life is life, wherein death is also life. Allow yourself to be reborn vicariously through your surroundings. You will be surprised to see what blooms.
Don’t forget to buy a good pair of kitchen shears to trim the stems. I broke mine.
