Flowers bring joy!

Today’s Feel Good Friday activity is to do something nice for your home. Since staying at home is the fashion of the moment, make it enjoyable! I find that flowers have a lovely effect on the environment, making any room feel more alive.

Since ancient times, flowers have been used to express emotion, honor gods and goddesses or symbolize feelings of love. Egyptians would adorn themselves and their loved ones with flowers from along the Nile. In Victorian England, an entire language of flowers was created to express emotions and symbolic meaning.

Flowers are nature’s way of expressing love, healing, joy and beauty.

If you’re on a budget, like most people these days, you may feel that purchasing flowers is a frivolous expense. However, I suggest that you try an experiment. Purchase an inexpensive bouquet of flowers at your local grocery or nursery. Choose a room that you will visit often or an area that could use a little brightening. Put on some music. Unwrap your flowers, carefully separating them and clipping off any undesirable leaves. Choose a vase, a wine carafe or glass pitcher, whatever looks good to you. There’s something truly special that you will feel while working with nature. Even on a small scale, such as a few flowers on your kitchen counter will feel grand!

Next, place your arrangements. Be sure to dust and remove any clutter from the area. You will be surprised at the immediate change of energy in the room with the presence of your fresh flowers creation!

Today, I went shopping at my local grocery store for the ingredients of tonights “date night” dinner, where I also purchased a half dozen yellow chrysanthemums and a half dozen white lilies. The chrysanthemums have soft green leaves on their stems that added volume and color to my arrangement. I created a beautiful, sunny bouquet as a centerpiece for my dining table. Also, I chose one each, a single lily and a single chrysanthemum, cutting the stems to fit perfectly into a mason jar. Now I have a sweet little motif for my bedside table. I feel a smile inside every time I look at them.

“Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities in the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson