For me, flowers are happiness, a spark, an ode to life itself. They are proof that you are alive and can appreciate the simplicity of a very short-lived existence. The colors I choose often represent how I feel that day or are a more artistic expression of how well the hues blend with each other. Seasonal flowers that are also budget-friendly are an important consideration. It is always a balance for me—beauty with budget, longevity with decay, a hint of fragrance with a heavy perfume.

I have discovered the inherent beauty in wood stalks. Both blooms and stalks are so close to the seasons that they truly reflect them. With flowers, I bring the weather home with me—but not the harshness of it. I love to admire the snow, the biting chill, a blowing wind, dense fog, thunderstorms, a constant drizzle, and even the burning heat, but from the thermal comfort of my home. The flowers themselves tell me a story of what it is really like outside, or maybe they just help me forget the harshness of it all.

Doing floral arrangements is really about combining these thoughts, whether the arrangements are for my home, a wedding, an anniversary, or a friend's birthday. The flowers and stems I arrange reflect me, my thoughts, and the seasons. Enrolling in a floral design course helps formalize my scattered thoughts and gives them a proper structure or name. It helps me identify the principles I need to focus on a little more consciously. At the risk of sounding pompous, making pleasing floral arrangements is about getting better at making something beautiful that is already beautiful. How wrong can you go with that?