Beautiful things come out of Flower Friendships

 Earlier this year, I was afforded the opportunity to attend the alumni Ponderosa and Thyme retreat in Manzanita Oregon.  It was such an occasion for nurturing and centering my flower self, I couldn't pass it up.

Photo of us at the Dining table by Anne Blodgett 

My friend Megan (from Isle de Flores in Nantucket) and I drove up to Manzanita together from my house in Oakland (I met her at last year's workshop in England and we hit it off immediately) She and I had a wonderful time together. We are flower souls, and maybe even just soul sisters.

 

Megan and I at a giant drive thru redwood as we headed up the coast.

Some of us who attended the workshop Megan, Polina, Kristin, Sarah, Katie, Carrie, Mandy, Tara , (a small flower child) and Me (not pictured, Dallas, Maja, Mark and Anne)

   

The beach installation the group did, featuring local grown tulips from Witte Farm and our fabulous Model, Carrie McIntyre Jones.

The workshop/retreat itself was spectacular.  We all stayed in one house together, we cooked, we ate, we danced in the rain.  There were no expectations and yet, we managed to forge some very strong bonds and even heal our souls a bit.  We made beauty.  We cried.  We shared secrets.

Photo of my bridal bouquet/giant bridal bush held by Carrie in an Anthro dress. by Anne Blodgett

 

Film photo by Anne Blodgett of the beach at Manzanita, Oregon

The thing about being a florist, is it's really hard.  It's a creative job, and yet it's filled with a lot of labor (a lot), business decisions, tired hands, a lot of customer service, plenty of anxiety, flowers that die, expectations, cliques of designers and quite a bit of competition.  Hence the hashtag I often use #creativityovercompetition.

Katie, of Ponderosa and Thyme amongst our workshop materials including blooms from Witte Farm, Charles Little and Co and Grace Rose Farm at the Manzanita Beach House.

So, the fact that Katie was able to create this environment for floral designers, and that so many of us go to these types of workshops, is a testament to how much we need this.  We need it to keep designing. Actually, we need it to keep living. So go. Do it.  If you're not a florist, do it some way or do it anyway, shoot, it's a human thing. We all need something lik this. And we need it often.

 

 

I could go on and on here, but mostly I just wanted to share how much this experience opened my heart. It reminded me to live and work in the way I want to be seen in this world: as a beautiful person on the inside, creating beautiful things on the outside.

A group of us who came together in the rain to make a flower mandala, and touch hearts.  Photo by Anne Blodgett

I'm thankful for all the hearts I've touched in the years I've been doing this work, and I look forward to connecting to more of us creative souls. In Peace and a florist's clarity of heart, Pilar of G&G 

 A photo of Pilar on the beach after our vessel arrangements were made. Photo by Anne Blodgett