Recently a customer shared with me that she enjoyed my blog posts. She said they helped her to feel like she knew me a little better. When I noticed the last time I posted was in 2018, I was shocked that so much time had passed so quickly. I’m going to work on being better about showing up and sharing, a promise I’m making to myself and you.
This 2020 year has been a wild and crazy one for all of us. Embracing change is something we’ve all had to learn to do in one form or another. Change sometimes is fun and easy for me but other times I want to dig in my heels and scream NOOOOO, I don’t want to change this! I think for me personally the hardest change this year has been keeping the distance between us. The lack of hugs and attending group functions whether it was a family gathering or teaching a class, I missed being with people. I’m a social butterfly who loves a good hug, conversation and interactive activities. I like the face to face contact, being able to see your twinkling eyes and bright smile! I miss holding my grandkids hands, snuggling with them on my lap and those big bear hugs from my dad. This year I also missed getting hugs from my brides when I delivered their bouquets on their wedding day. Being able to share in their joy felt a tad flat without that quick hug of thanks being shared between us. I’m crossing my fingers 2021’s wedding season won’t be a repeat from this years.
With the COVID shut down in the spring, the pause in my floral work schedule created an opportunity for me to shift my focus a bit so I planted a flower garden. I refused to spend time fretting over lost orders coming in or what to do with my time. Spending time in the garden was a good way to keep my body and mind occupied on something positive and looking forward to a summer filled with lovely blossoms to use in orders and share with others. My early spring and summer weeks in the garden were a lot of work but I was reminded of how much I enjoyed gardening and how much I had missed having my hands in the dirt the past 10 years or so. As the garden was growing many of my wedding couples were choosing to postpone their weddings another year. I certainly understood their choice to do so but that left me more unfilled weekends in my schedule. I experienced a wedding season that was very different from any other. One way it was different is that I worked mostly with couples whom I had only met through face time, phone and email conversations. We did our best to build a relationship and keep the communication open so I could grasp their vision for their special day as best I could. Meeting them in person on their wedding day for the first time was so sweet, I just missed that hug when I handed her the bouquet. Ceremonies were smaller and more intimate this year. This change created opportunities for me to give more attention to their floral details and personalization which I did enjoy. There were a few larger weddings out of state or held at private residences but most couples choose to reduced their original guest lists and went for an intimate gathering of family and a few friends. This change brought me some unexpected pleasant surprises. I experienced less stress with less hustle, bustle, and with more time to focus on the details of each wedding I had booked made my designing time in the studio more fun. It also opened up a little more time for me to spend in my garden, which was beginning to be filled with those lovely blossoms for me to use in their wedding floral orders. Many of my brides carried bouquets this year that included some of my own flowers, herbs and or foliage and that really felt good. I was so delighted to be able to go down to the garden early in the morning and gather blossoms specifically for my brides.
With fewer weddings on my books this summer it also created more time for me to spend with my local flower growers learning from them as well as buying their flowers to be incorporated into all of my designs. Supporting other local businesses continues to be important to me and it feels so good to be able to say “your bouquet/arrangement is filled 100% with U.S./locally grown blossoms”.
As my autumn wedding season came to an end I realized there were some golden nuggets from this year that I certainly wanted to carry over to next year. I really enjoyed a little slower pace with a few less wedding commitments through the prime wedding mid summer season. I liked being able to give my focused attention to the details of those weddings I did book. Having a little breathing time between events helped me feel more enthusiasm for the next one on the books. So this next year I plan to only book 3 weekends a month from May-October, leaving me one weekend for myself to enjoy with my family. I want to do more “micro” mid week weddings with some dynamic focal floral pieces that are unique and will add some really gorgeous styling for photographs for couples. I plan to expand my own garden flower varieties so I will have more gems to design with. This will allow me to create more of those special one of kind bouquets for brides. This also means I am changing my studio hours to give me my morning hours for gardening and late afternoons for making floral deliveries or gathering supplies and product. I will continue to move my business in the direction of using even more locally grown and forged flowers and greens whenever possible. Along with using more sustainable mechanics and methods in my designs.
This year since our Rec Center was not open and the seniors were not able to join together on Tuesday’s for lunch where I had previously brought table centerpieces to each week throughout the year. I offered my less than fresh flowers to my rural community. In order for me to sell flowers they have to be fresh. When I have extra flowers left over I haven’t used for orders because I don’t feel they meet the mark for being “fresh enough” I can either send them to the compost pile or give them away. Since there is usually a day or two of good vitality still in them I normally choose to give them away. I’ll mix in some of my garden flowers if I have extras or if a local grower shares a bucket of blooms with me I’ll add them too. With COVID and no contact being observed I choose to set up a free flower stand at the end of my drive way and put my left overs out for my rural community to stop and pick up as the drove by. It was a big hit and I was so happy they stopped and picked up the flowers. This Fall I shared extra glad bulbs, dahlia tubers and painted pumpkins with them too. This was a change I certainly will continue with next year and I’m already thinking up some other special treats to share with them as well. There’s just something magical when you surprise and delight someone when they are least expecting it, don’t you agree? They appreciated them and let me know by leaving me jars, vases, lottery tickets, veggies, notes, cash and coin as well as stopping by to say thank you. It felt good to brighten the days of my neighbors.
This year though my business was down due to COVID it also allowed me to have extra time to help my parents move to their new smaller farm. Time to help them downsize and transition was a huge blessing to have. So though less business meant less dollars in the bank, it also gave me more time to be where I was needed and that I am very grateful for. I was able to enjoy some quality time with them at the farm and in my mother’s garden and that time I will always be thankful for having.
Besides all the love and fulfillment flowers bring to me, I also am stepping forward with changes in my Feng Shui Consulting practice. I have enjoyed the years of floral focus but this year allowed me time to revisit my passion in Feng Shui and clutter clearing too. I attended a few workshops online and am ready to share my renewed love for creating spaces you love to live in with others. I’m excited to move forward with my consulting practice, sharing some classes and engaging with people in their environments to discuss the connections between their spaces and their experiences. I enjoy helping them to see their environments whether that is their yard, garden , home or office with their own feng shui glasses on. To see connections between where they are and what they are experiencing in life and how to bring more harmony between the two and create changes that support who they want to be.
2020, has been a year none of us will ever forget, one that said ready or not here comes change to your life. I’m glad I was able to embrace it and most of the time with a happy heart.
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