It was the simplest of words, that was and still is the best teaching I could have ever received when I started out as a floral designer. I know I had not written in my blog for a while, I have been very active on my instagram account and that has taken me away a little I think. There is definitely more spontaneity that instagram lets me have and I am able to upload loads of pictures. This morning I woke up and told myself, I have to share this story on my blog!
I had held a corporate job for 18 years before turning my eyes onto flowers. I was in a creative role but it was a very corporate world. My dreams came true when I first got offered that job, always wanted to work at this company since college. And 18 years is a long time, and during this time, some dabbling into flower arrangements as a hobby had occurred on and off in the last 5 years of the tenure I think. And then it happened! A hobby got turned into a more serious pursuit!
I was so thrilled when I got my first gig at a high end floral shop, first time ever to be paid as a florist!!!!!! They wanted to test me out and they liked my "Totally Don't Know What I am Doing But I am Having Fun!" floral arrangement for the test. I passed for minimum wage. And onto the next task, I was supposed to help out copying arrangements for an event. There was a lady in charge there at the back end of the shop. It was just the two of us. The arrangement I was supposed to copy was a tall glass cylinder with orchids and other twirls of branches artfully positioned and resting in the sand on the bottom. Nice, I thought. The only problem is I am a short person with short limbs. I was struggling to reach inside the tall narrow cylinder with my hands holding flowers, trying to make flowers sit where they are supposed to sit and branches to twirl the way they are supposed to twirl. It was unachievable, I was tormenting these flowers and branches, I was sweating it. Finally after several unsuccessful attempts, I turned to the lady and asked her, " How did you do it?"
And here is my story that ends in the simplest answer that came back, at the time I had no idea this was going to help me survive as a florist.
"You do it with love."
