Florals & Feels: Reimagining Fantastic Extravagance

The language of flowers, Floriography, is one of my favorite ways to incorporate meaning and significance into the pieces that I create. It is my way to imbed the drawings with several layers - visual, verbal and sentimental. I thought this would be a great way to share some of my feelings through the language of flowers each month.

The flower for the month of August is the Poppy. It is said to represent imagination, oblivion and fantastic extravagance. The Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby describes the flower as displaying “extraordinary lavishness” during the brief time it is in bloom, which is often only a few days.

If you were like me, your mind probably went right to luxury upon reading the definition. It sounds like a treat, right?! But what if we reimagined extravagance in the terms of the Poppy? What if we looked for brief encounters with things that could bring us pleasure?

For me, it looks like:

• permission to take a midday nap without feeling guilty

• putting on the sundress even though I have plans to stay home

• taking a walk simply to notice the plants on my street

I believe this has the potential to infuse our days with joy and that is an unbelievable form of self-care! What if you reimagined fantastic extravagance for your life right now? What would be on your list?