Why Flowers?
A Philosophy of Beauty
The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras (pictured as he appeared when he visited our farm) was once asked about the purpose of life. He answered, “To behold the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens.”
Do you remember the last time you stared at the stars on a clear night? Wasn’t it beautiful?
Sometimes we take our kids out at night with three or four telescopes (a few of them have their own) and look at the stars for hours.
I remember the first time we saw Saturn through the lens, all alone in a sea of the deepest black. I couldn’t help but think of some words by John Keats from his poem, Hyperion. Because, seeing Saturn’s rings for the first time was, “More beautiful than Beauty’s self.” Or, the first time we saw Jupiter transiting Orion with its moons like a string of pearls in space. We could just make out the rust-colored bands north and south of its bleach white equator. I almost couldn’t believe it was really happening.
In short, these experiences were beautiful.
I’m sure that for Anaxagoras to behold — to have his mind be held by the beauty of the sun, moon, and the stars, was truly to experience ‘Beauty’s self.’ So, it’s no wonder he believed that these were the only worthy things to do with one’s life.
OK, so what does a Greek philosopher and stargazing have to do with flowers?
It’s not as if Anaxagoras was asked, “What’s the meaning of life?” and he blurted out, “Flowers!!!”
Well, we think that what Anaxagoras was really saying is that the purpose of life is to experience things that are beautiful. And flowers are certainly beautiful.
What do flowers do for you?
Flowers are the bookends of life’s most important moments:
We give flowers to beautiful new mothers to celebrate her bringing a beautiful new life into the world
We receive flowers on birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate another trip around the sun together
Radiant brides carry beautiful bouquets down the aisle on their wedding day
We comfort loved ones facing a serious illness or a major procedure with bright-colored blooms
World leaders lay sweet-smelling wreaths on monuments built by nations to remember those who bore the bitter cost of war
We even celebrate the end of a beautiful life with flowers
We use them to say I love you, I’m sorry, I’ve missed you, bravo!, and you matter. In short, flowers are there for the high and low watermarks of our lives. Why? Because flowers remind us of something important: that tragedy is extraordinary, but beauty is ordinary.
Let me say that again: tragedy isn’t normal, but beauty is what we were made for.
So, it’s no surprise that we often bring flowers into our home and our everyday, ‘just because.’
Just because it’s what we were made for: to behold and be held by beauty. Just because we’re beautiful. And that’s every day.
Now, more than ever.
This week we had our first moment of real doubt about starting a flower farm. News of the coronavirus and its second and third order effects: the quarantines, the layoffs, and so much misery casts gloom over everything — like straight out of Mordor.
We’re facing more uncertainty than we remember at any time in our life since September 11, 2001.
But this is truly different.
For a couple weeks after 9/11, churches were packed full. President Bush asked us to go to the mall — which didn’t quite come off right, but the message was clear: we can’t let this change us.
And it mostly didn’t.
People continued to travel. The pews cleared out. We even went to the mall (because back in the day people still did that).
Pretty soon, even all those democrats and republicans who sang “God Bless America” (so awfully) on the steps of the Capitol were back to squabbling.
But today, churches are empty. The streets are empty. Shelves are empty. And every student in the United States from pre-K to graduate school just became a homeschooler.
The message ringing out from all sides seems to be: this must change us.
So, naturally, we found ourselves wondering who’s going to buy flowers? Who needs that?
We even talked about changing gears to strictly grow food to help feed our community if it comes to that. But would farmers’ markets even open? Would anyone even want to visit our farm?
We kept coming back to the original question: “Why flowers?” and old Anaxagoras, who also said, “Appearances are just a glimpse of what is hidden.”
You see, despite our many differences, we have a lot in common with flowers: We’re all just reaching for the light.
We couldn’t (and still can’t) answer a lot of our questions as we set out on our first year of flower farming.
But, we are setting out.
We’re setting out because we can answer one question: Who needs that?
We all do.
Now, more than ever.
Because in this extraordinarily tragic time, we need to be held by the ordinary beauty of flowers.
