About a year ago (most likely on a cold and dreary winter weekend), I bought myself some yellow roses and posted a pic of them on Facebook. I remember being rather depressed that weekend, and those flowers were an attempt to cheer myself up. All the comments on the post were trying to guess what the occasion was, and finally I just commented, "Sometimes a girl just needs to buy herself some flowers."
I was surprised how many likes I got from a comment on a post. It was probably a record for me. Clearly, I'd struck a nerve.
Fast-forward another year. This time I'm not depressed, but I bought myself some hot pink roses...to celebrate my happiness. And I was remembering that comment and musing about what it means. What does it mean? "Sometimes a girl just needs to buy herself some flowers."
I think as humans we think of flowers as something we must wait to be given, which often and invariably leads to...disappointment. We hope, and our hopes are crushed. We want one thing and get another. Or even worse, we don't have anyone in our lives who would even think to get us flowers.
But what if we take our hopes into our own hands? What if we look at our dreams and have the courage to fulfill them ourselves rather than waiting for someone else to do it for us? Of course, receiving the gift of flowers is a treasure and a fleeting and dreamy sentiment of love and happiness--but many of us can't count on that. But if we can't count on ourselves, whom can we count on?
It's funny, because as a gardener I grow lots of flowers in the summertime, but I can't bear to pick them because they're so beautiful outside and last longer on the stem. However, I love to buy flowers that someone else has already cut. I went through a phase where I didn't want to buy supermarket flowers because of all the chemicals they use, but now it's possible to get flowers that are at least grown with more care. (Although, my favorite flowers are the ones I can get locally at the farmer's market, but that ain't happening in January...)
And so, to get me through these cold, dark days, I buy flowers. Which is, I think, better than buying candy, booze, or cigarettes. And yes, it does make me feel better with no negative side effects that I can think of. Therefore, I'm going to keep doing it whenever I feel like it. You can send me flowers, too, and it will make me very happy. You really can't have too many flowers, if you ask me. And if you want to make someone else happy, send him or her some flowers! Don't wait for a birthday or, worse, a funeral, to call the florist.
And when those flowers have died (speaking of funerals), just throw them on the compost pile.
For more from Maria Rodale, visit www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com