The Language of Flowers

I recently read a book called The Language of Flowers. It was fabulous. You should read it. But that book isn't necessarily what this post is about. The important piece is that, throughout the story, the main character, who struggled to open herself up to others or share thoughts or feelings, used flowers and their inherent meaning (according to what she learned) to communicate with others. She would hand someone a peony symbolizing anger to let out her frustration for example.

While I found that there are a million different meanings online for every flower, so the world isn't as concrete as Victoria (the main character) tried to make it be, I became very in tune to flowers and how they made me feel. I was surprised by how many flowers I encounter in an average week, whether in pictures or in offices or in my neighborhood.

I've always said I wasn't a "flower person" because I'm not that thrilled with the idea of receiving a bouquet as a gift and watching it die, but I do think fondly of the sweet scent of lilacs in May and the breeze blowing over cherry blossoms on campus, and the bold colors of tiger lilies in July. Flowers are not only beautiful, but memorable and tie us to different moments and feelings easily. I can definitely understand why Victoria was drawn to them.