Spring has sprung, summer is in full swing, and so the flowers have been going through their dance of budding, blooming, and permeating our senses with sweet fragrance and aesthetic wonder. It’s been said that flowers are likely the first “thing” humans came to value that had no utilitarian purpose to us. We didn’t need flowers to survive, yet humans began to appreciate their awe-inspiring existence. The Ancient Greeks and Egyptians used flowers as a gifted expression of love. Flowers are also one of the first known items to be used as gifts. (Go flowers! #firstgiftever #flowerpower #famous)
In Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, he says that “the first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of consciousness.” Oh.. you mean the mysterious, mind-blowing concept of human awareness… that ol thing? Yerp.
Tolle also says our feelings of joy and love are “intrinsically connected to that recognition. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like the bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless.”
Like birds, crystals, and river beds, flowers seem almost supernatural. We are drawn to them because we can sense that there is more to their solid form. As is the case for most untouched nature, there is a delicateness, innocence, and beauty that feels otherwordly. It wakes us up and takes us out of our thought-driven slumber.
“This is what life is about,” is a common sentiment echoed by friends while camping or hiking deep in the mountains.
As much as I’d like to say I stop and marvel at every. single. flower. I pass by (though I do try), I’m guilty of ignoring these silky petal poofs just as much as the next modern-day, tech-fueled, and constantly-distracted person. Surely all of us have disregarded natural beauty at some point, too busy being absorbed by the endless thought-trains of our minds, not truly here and present but instead living exclusively in our heads.
We could be on a gorgeous walk in the forest, surrounded by flowers, rocks, trees, water, and a myriad of divine creatures; harnessing energy and strength through our body’s muscles in order to move us through space - all incredible, in the moment, and worthy of our attention. Yet our minds wander…
Hmm what to make for dinner?
Maybe I’ll cook those potatoes I got last week. I have some greens in the fridge, too. Gotta get those in the mix before they go bad.
No food waste, Jessica! Think of the people who have no food.
I swore I read an article last year about geese being killed to feed the homeless. What the fuck was that about? Was that real? I should google that later. Ha, geese really look like big bird footballs.. I hope no one has ever kicked a goose. That’s so sad. I haven’t tossed a football in a while. Weird that Americans call it football? I mean the game requires barely any feet action. Feet are weird looking. I should try harder washing my feet in the shower. I’ve gotten lazy.
Shit, I forgot to reply to Margaret’s email. What should I say happened.. Ah, my wifi was out or something. Yeah.
I’m going to have to pee in the next 20 minutes.. I wonder where the nearest bathroom is.
Crazy that humans made bathrooms. Hard to believe all of us used to just do our business rogue out here in the wilderness.
Oh nice, a bird. Sounds like it’s from the rainforest, sort of out of place here, but what do I know? Cool!
I’m thirsty. I should drink more water.
I wonder when we’ll run out of fresh water on Earth. That will suck. I hope I’m living off the grid by then. I should start more seriously prepping for that...
Aaaand on and on and on. Our mind never fails to come up with another object of rumination or contemplation. To dissect the past or dwell on the future. And so we miss out on (or barely pay attention to) what is here, now, in the moment - the marvelous and intricate sounds of nature, birds chirping, leaves rustling, the feeling of a soft breeze, the warm sun on our skin, the neighbor passing us by offering a smile. It’s easier to live in our constant mind chatter than to snap out of it and just simply be.
Perhaps we use flowers as a reminder.
A flower is stunning, impermanent, and perfect just as it is - exactly like the present moment. We see a flower, and we become the observer of our infinite thoughts. We are aware of them but we do not identify with them or judge them. We just let them go, as a flower lets go of its petals. And then we free our minds to marvel at what surrounds us now. What do we see, hear, feel, or even taste in this moment?
We see whatever is in front of us. We notice the colors, shapes, textures, and dimensions. Hopefully, we hear what is around us (instead of I Got A Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas blasting in your head even though you haven’t listened to that song in 9 years). We listen carefully and notice all the different sounds intertwined. My favorite audio is the birds - and leaves dancing in the wind (it’s fun to watch and imagine they are shakin’ it on their own, or perhaps the trees are waving hello). We sense our body and how it feels when we move. We feel our feet on the ground, noticing when our footsteps are on uneven pebbles, grainy gravel, or perhaps the softness of grass or firmness of clay dirt. We might even reach out and touch a smooth rock or a coarse tree trunk. We notice the intricacies. We aren’t tasting anything at the moment, but maybe we toss one of those dainty little flower petals right in our mouths to see what’s up. (Just make sure it's not poisonous or whatever… roses are safe, I know that much.) We notice the petal is soft, smoother than expected, but not particularly delectable. (Is this descriptor from experience? Have I tried tasting flower petals? Maybe! Okay, yes. Who hasn't?)
Anyhow. Regardless if a flower is edible or better left alone, red, orange, blue, purple, or pink, smells delightful or like a corpse (they do exist, shoutout Denver Botanic Gardens for the corpse flower display), gives you hives, or is fit for a delicious tea, why not let them be a window into the realm of presence? Allow the sight of a flower to invite you into the now, where we always are, and we must train our minds to be.
