I’ve come to realize that we don’t keep enough fresh flowers around the house. Recently, when we were hosting a dinner, I decided to get some brightly coloured potted plants to add to a new berry basket I was given by my mother-in-law. It was from her parents fruit farm, was very old, and just needed some love.
So after putting some furniture wax on it and a few cork coasters on the bottom to prevent it from scratching my table, it just needed some fresh flowers to complete my new table centrepiece.
The results made me happy and instantly brightened the room, and my mood.
It was then that I knew I had been missing flowers around the house. We had some earlier in the summer, when my hydrangea plants are in full bloom and ready to be cut, and they look amazing in a giant yellow vase sitting on the side table in our dining room. With our open concept on the main floor though, they could be seen from anywhere.
However, my garden doesn’t provide me with endless cut flowers, so I need to turn to flower shops or the grocery store to keep freshly cut flowers in a vase, or potted plants on my table. Yet, so many times, I turn away from buying them as though spending the money on fresh flowers is an indulgence that is unnecessary. Even though they clearly impact my spirits and completely freshen up the decor in our home.
But this can be used as a metaphor for many things I think. These small touches that bring us great joy, whether it’s fresh flowers, or a hot cup of tea at shop we love, a brand new book, or a new lip gloss that is the perfect shade on us, may seem little but can have a big impact, and yet, we don’t always prioritize them.
I’m not saying they will suddenly fix our debt issues, or resolve the parent/child conflict of the moment, or land us that job we’ve been coveting, but if we don’t let ourselves indulge in these kind of things, we are missing out. Simple joys matter.
So the potted flowers on my table continue to look amazing. And my big yellow vase needs some new freshly cut flowers which I will try to remedy soon.
Life comes at us fast, and hard, some days.
I think we all need to literally stop and smell the flowers more often. It’s even better when we can do that in our own homes.
