"Just like women, flowers come in every shape and color, flourish in bunches and with love and care, they transform from buds to blossoms."
The Society of American Florists
There are many life lessons we can gather from beautiful, resilient flowers as they grow from seedling to stem. "Live Like a Flower" is a series of pieces of advice from well-known experts in life and happiness compiled by The Society of American Florists and Aboutflowers.com.
Through the easy-to-follow advice of authors, speakers, designers and more, we can learn to bloom like a flower and live life to its fullest and most rewarding.
Live Colorfully – Dare to Be Different: Kelli Ellis, author, design psychologist and TV personality, shares advice on showing the world how you are unique, beautiful and the source of a smile.
Shake it up. Do something unpredictable.
Make it simple. Keep the people that make your life better on speed dial.
Good morning sunshine. Start and end your day in a color that makes your heart smile, one that creates a key to your haven.
Ignore your “normal.” To brighten your day, get bold.
Make a statement. Share the things you love with the world.
Spread Smiles. Show your thoughtful and creative side by giving your work mates flowers that you think represents them. Productivity, innovation and creative problem solving improve when flowers and plants are in the workplace.
Soak Up the Sun: MJ Ryan, New York Times best-selling author and expert on human fulfillment, shows how just like flowers need sunlight, people need happy thoughts and moments to grow.
Uplift with orange. Color therapists say colors really do affect our moods. It promotes optimism, enthusiasm, and a sense of uplift.
Music is a very powerful happiness creator. Choose songs that make you feel good, whether that’s through inspiring lyrics or the rhythm. Singing has been shown to be a great way to lift your spirits, lower blood pressure, and decrease depression.
Follow the happiness path. Research has shown that there are two routes to happiness. One is doing something that you feel is personally meaningful, such as volunteering in your community or seeing a friend through a tough time. The other is indulging in simple pleasures, such as relishing in the feel of your dog’s fur, taking a luxurious hot bath, or treating yourself to flowers or a blooming plant.
Do one little thing that’s been nagging you.
Spread happiness to others. Acts of kindness benefit both the receiver and the giver.
Grow Roots: Vanessa Diffenbaugh, best-selling author of The Language of Flowers, offers advice on growing deeper roots in your community.
Ask people to tell their stories. Everyone has a story, full of both heartbreak and triumph. Asking people to share allows you to find common ground even when all you see — externally — are differences.
Be real. Being truthful about both sides of your story will help you form more honest connections with those you love and admire.
Embrace your elders. Show love and respect to your grandparents and aging neighbors.
Make yourself useful. Everyone has something to give, no matter how much (or little) time you have.
Do what you love to do. Figure out what you love to do, and then go do it!
Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask humbly, genuinely, for help when you need it. Say thank you with flowers, a plant, or another heartfelt expression of gratitude.
Open Up: Christine Arylo, author, women’s advocate and TEDx speaker, provides thoughts on making the right choices for you and others.
Know what makes your heart happy and do that.
Follow your inner wisdom, not conventional wisdom. Living an authentic life means living life by what feel is right to you, even if it differs from the norm. Be willing to listen to your inner wisdom—that intuitive, gut feeling—even if it is contrary to rational thought.
Stay true to yourself, even if that means disappointing another. Be a best friend to yourself by taking actions that are best for you.
Be willing to make a mistake, but don’t beat yourself up about it. Give yourself some love by saying the same words you would tell a best friend in this situation, “You are doing the best that you can, and it’s enough.” Then do something loving for yourself, an action that you would only usually take for someone else to cheer them up, like sending yourself flowers.
Be a feeling sharer not a feeling stuffer. If it is hard for you to express your feelings, bring in help to open your heart and let the feelings out.
Live Beautifully: Vicki Norris, author and life management expert, offers advice for living a prioritized life in a harried and distracted world.
Rethink order and beauty. Embrace order as a gateway to beauty. Train your mind that organizing your life and belongings is not a chore; it’s an investment in a lovely life.
Repurpose old things to new life. Bringing yesteryear into today provides comfort through nostalgia and conveys simpler times in today’s busy world.
Re-envision your space. Arrange your home or workplace around centers of activity and community (instead of by sterile rooms).
Rehab your mind. Change in our natural environment or habits begins with a change of thinking. Make a list of the beautiful, lovely, praiseworthy things you can think about and post it near your sink. What we think about, we become.
Rejuvenate your senses. Take a break from the busyness of life and treat yourself to a visit to a relaxing spa, botanical garden, lavender field, or local flower shop. Surrounding yourself with the sounds, scents, and beauty of nature invites us to engage our senses, slow down, breathe and experience peace.
Refuse to dichotomize. Trade up from balance to integration. A completely balanced life is impossible and requires constant reallocation of time. An integrated life is one where we intentionally break down separations and blend our personal, professional, spiritual, and emotional lives together. An integrated life is a beautiful display of peace in an out-of-control world.
Pollinate: Jayme Barrett, author and expert on increasing energy and balance teaches us how to transmit positive energy and inspire optimism, kindness and love.
Radiate joy & happiness. Start every day in a good mood, and let your happiness uplift others.
Celebrate & acknowledge people. Make an effort to praise and compliment friends, family and co-workers.
Share your creative spark & business smarts. Brainstorm fresh ideas, offer to make an introduction, read a proposal or send them your resources. It doesn’t need to take a lot of your time but it can help launch them towards the realization of their dreams.
Listen with undivided attention. Giving someone your complete attention is a gift.
Pay it forward. A magical way of spreading positive energy is to do something unexpected for a stranger.
Give your love freely. Love is the nectar of life.
Grow New Buds: Christine Arylo shares easy advice for becoming your own best friends and building stronger relationships with others.
Grow little buds into blooming buds. Choose friends past or present who have the potential to grow deeper and stronger, and to make your life better.
Be honest about who you want in your friend bouquet. Be intentional with whom you want to surround yourself. Make a list of these buds (call it your friendship manifesto)—who they are, what they like to do, and how you feel when you are around them. Place the manifesto somewhere sacred (perhaps under a flowering plant to signify blooming friendships) and every so often take it out and read it, and keep your eyes out for new friends!
Be inspired by others, not envious. If sunflowers spent all their time trying to be roses, they would be very unhappy sunflowers. Next time you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else, find what inspires you about that person, and tell them so! Watch how their heart opens because you’ve showered them with appreciation instead of judgment or envy, and you might just find a new friend.
Look for new buds that feel like you. There is a universal relationship law that says like attracts like, which means people are attracted to energy on the outside that matches the energy on the inside. Think about what qualities you have to share with others and embrace this as part of your essence, so that your new buds will have an easier time finding you, and you them.
Plant seeds in new fields. Put yourself out there to new people in new circles instead of just hanging out with the same people. If your new friends were flowers, what kind would they be?
Be Grateful for Rain: Vicki Norris helps you be prepared for anything, nimbly and gracefully, no matter what life throws at you.
Receive the rain. Look at life’s circumstances–not as inconveniences or intrusions–but as enrichment to your soil. Even the tough stuff can bring growth, and even beauty, to your life. Determine to always become better, not bitter.
Refine your transitions. Make your transitions stress-free: give attention to your going-and-coming spaces.
Reconsider your remnants. Pause to enjoy (and even photograph) the overlooked, dirty, or disruptive things, instead of perceiving a nuisance. Remember that these are actually evidence of what we DO have – the beautiful blessings of today.
Refuse the daily grind. Infuse your busy life with little pleasures that invite you to breathe in the sweet joys that no circumstance can steal.
Reclaim your priorities. Prioritize your life around that which matters most. Resolve to live with no regrets by putting first the relationships and moments that count.
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