Bliss and Joy through flowers 

Bliss and Joy through flowers by Samantha

Flowers bring me so much joy – I love the colours, textures and divine expression that flowers give whether in a garden, field or even on a road side; or in a bouquet.

Recently I made a heart shaped oasis flower arrangement for a very beautiful and special person; and last minute with no preparation – making it extra fun! Sometimes; love and creativity (and some good music) is all you need to create something beautiful to show a loved one just what they mean to you (including yourself) and that can be done as cheaply or as costly as you want.

Flowers and creativity

As someone who has developed an endurance for creativity; meaning I can push through creative blocks when it starts getting quite frustrating and get into that flow state (a transcendent feeling of bliss) where colour, texture and heart becomes easy to express and play with; I don’t find creative “failure” that intimidating. I have realised though that not all people have developed the lack of fear for trial and error in creative projects and that some people can get quite scared by making a mistake artistically and over question or compare themselves to others, and I totally understand this particularly if it is what brings you your income.

However, art should be fun and floristry whether you are an at home hobbyist or have your own business (which can definitely be done from home by the way) is art. Art is play and play is magic and you need to engage the inner child that seeks freedom and unconditional love in order to express authentically and without the conditioned fear us adults have.

Creativity and anxiety

If finance is a concern get creative. Fallen feathers, broken of apple leaved branches and a couple of eye catching stems from your local florist can make stunning bouquets, crowns and jam jar displays.

One cause for creative anxiety can be colour. I have always felt confident with colour not so much in dressing myself – I’m quite happy in a good pair of new look skinny jeans and a white t-shirt but I love looking at colour and am not too fussed if I make a colour mistake as I don’t view it seriously. I love looking at colour in different lights. How colours impact on each other. And how the same colour can look so different on different textures and also how nature uses colour, which is massively inspirational.

Colour

I often catch nuances of colour that bring me joy; such as a tiny piece of a beautiful lilac nail varnish against the remnants of a glitter nail varnish I hadn’t fully taken of and how that looks against my skin and freckles. I love how colour can reveal a lot about a person. I believe that colour and how a person appreciates and interacts with colour reveals emotional intelligence, especially kindness.

This doesn’t mean that the most confident use of colour means high empathy and altruism. What I mean is how a person considers what colour is being used say for example in a bouquet and how much of that colour etc is being used reveals a lot about their thought processes. I also think that the empathic muscle can (if you are lucky enough to have it) be developed further so that it becomes quicker and easier to develop highly emotive bouquets; I love looking at how different florists creative pieces and seemingly with ease.

Flowers and empathy

“Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling. It is the ability to stand in others’ shoes, to see with their eyes, and to feel with their hearts”. ‘A whole new mind, why right- brainers will rule the future’, Daniel H.Pink, 2008.

David Austen Rose

I believe that empathy combined with kindness can be a creative combination that brings stunning flower arrangements. And I believe though that logic can give a different dynamic which can also be interesting; I once volunteered with a research scientist who was very methodical in his gardening. He showed me a photo of his garden, and I was stunned at how beautiful it was. However, I still prefer though the wild and free expression that nature makes. And prefer florals that express that same sense of chaotic intelligence. Have you ever heard of chaos theory or the butterfly effect? For me the interplay of colour and texture in a heartfelt bouquet reminds me of this theory. One act of kindness to yourself or others can positively impact someone you may never meet – how amazing is that!

By Samantha