Generosity

When gifts are given, sometimes one can see them- and sometimes it is in the details or the symbolism where the real gift is revealed.

As you may know, I have a wonderful community of flower friends- all over the world – whom I have met on Instagram over our love of flowers and art and then we have become friends in real life- something I am very grateful for. This post is about someone whom I met who lives just down the road… She got in touch to say that she had some Lady’s Mantle last year. I was in Denmark at the time and so couldn’t use it. This year she got in touch about the Lady’s Mantle ( we had met first with her gift of some sweat pea seedlings she had too many of in the Spring…) and I could ABSOLUTELY use it! But not only are two buckets of Lady’s Mantle a gift in and of itself, but as it turns out, she was a flower grower and seller herself in a past chapter- so the stems below the water were all clear of leaves- a small step that people who know about flowers would do- (it saves the arranger time when they are prepared and conditioned properly). She ALSO had another special gift- the solution to a problem I have (that she didn’t know I had). How to transport bouquets in vases in the car without spilling (like I did the other day). These three beautiful vintage boxes with clean plant pots inside are PERFECT! Underneath some of the plant pots are a little piece of wood to raise the blooms above the edge of the box- she suggested if I have some styrofoam I could replace the wood so that it would make the overall box lighter. She had used them when she was transporting her flowers for sale. She thought that I could use them and if she ever had need of them again, she would know where to ask to borrow them back. As any entrepreneur will tell you, these kinds of gifts that say “I see you and I understand what you are doing” are interpreted by me as such a supportive thing to do. It’s how we can lift each other up- Giving without need of anything in return – out of pure empathy- well, it’s everything our world needs right now.

As I’m thinking about this, I also think that these beautiful gifts happen when one shares one’s projects, one’s goals and perhaps one’s dreams and starts the work to getting there.

Pictured above is some honeysuckle that she clipped to share to see how long it will last in the vase— I am absolutely planting this- it is doing well in the vase and the scent is out-of-this-world! This quaker grass is also something that I used in the bouquets last week. I did grow some for the first time from seed in my greenhouse- which is, ahem, where it remains as one of the last things to make it out of there- not forgotten, but well down the long list!

Have you had anyone give you this kind of genuine gift recently that supports you in your endeavours? Or perhaps you have done this for someone else… I’d love to know in the comments section..

I wish you peace on your path today,

Lise-Lotte