I can’t believe it’s already autumn! My mind is still stuck on summer and the beautiful weather we had (especially in Montreal). Although time flew and I ran like a headless chicken from one weekend to another, I tried to slow down, stop and smell the flowers. I’ve encountered a diversity of flowers this summer. Though it might seem like a boring or merely ordinary experience to stand before flowers and simply look at them, I found myself in awe of their beauty, and to take the time to appreciate the latter has gotten me in reflection mode.

I look at the pictures I have taken of flowers that have caught my eye. Every flower is different, obviously. Each one has her own personality. One might shine brighter in my eyes than another, but I love them all. I am reminded of the Little Prince and his rose, how the time he wasted for his rose made her so important. But did he actually waste his time? When I look at all these flowers and fall in love with them, am I wasting my time?

Of course, I am not responsible for a flower like the Little Prince was responsible for his rose. I however do feel like I owe something to those flowers that add colours to our grey days, that make us smile when we walk on sidewalks that need to be fixed, and that are simple reminders of how life is beautiful even in the mundane hours of the day.

When I look at flowers and pay attention to their unique traits, I am reminded of quotes I have read before, such as: “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms” (Koshin Ogui), or “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way” (Walter Hagen). Then I think there must be many other quotes on flowers because not only does their beauty catch people’s eyes, but it can also teach them so many things.

I therefore google other quotes and realize that flowers are significant muses like lovers are for many artists. Flowers have taught them about passion, love, and life (its ups and downs):

“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” ― Victor Hugo

“Flowers don’t tell, they show.” — Stephanie Skeem

“Every flower must grow through dirt.” ― Laurie Jean Sennott

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.” — Lady Bird Johnson

“Every flower blooms in its own time.” ― Ken Petti

“Even the tiniest of flowers can have the toughest roots.” ― Shannon Mullen

“The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.” — Khalil Gibran

“If you enjoy the fragrance of a rose, you must accept the thorns which it bears.” — Isaac Hayes

Think that’s enough quotes? Enough things to learn from flowers? No, because flowers are teachers and teachers always have something to say. When teachers are good, they change people’s lives. Just like the rose changed the Little Prince’s life.

Inspired, I keep searching for more quotes. I particularly like the ones that make me proud to be a woman:

“After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” — Christian Dior

And here is one that reminds me of sisterhood:

“A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.” ― Miranda Kerr

Then I see some quote I disagree with:

“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.” — Henry Ward Beecher

But what if God gave a soul to each flower, but we are too busy to get to know and understand them? Don’t we do the same thing in relationships sometimes? We’re so focussed on our ourselves that we leave people just because we didn’t give them a chance to express themselves? We never truly know who they are because we don’t stop and smell the flowers anymore. I believe flowers have some sort of a soul. We would otherwise not learn that many things from them, we would not use them in poetry, we would not compare love to their beauty, we would not know how to blossom and persist living through every winter… I think God created them to give us an example of hope.

“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” ― Gerard de Nerval

We often ask God to give us signs, but I think the best signs, the best guides, are flowers. Flowers teaching us the way to be (ourselves). To simply be.