Intentional Floral Design Through the Five Senses

Our senses say a lot about who we are, what inspires us, and why we do the things we do. We believe our senses, unknowingly, unite us. We all have them, to varying degrees, at different thresholds, and with various ratios of presence to absence. Those with heightened senses of sound may be musicians themselves or devout music junkies. The people in our lives who extend their arms out wide, pulling us in for the greatest of bear hugs are individuals who probably love to feel love. Those of us who do not discriminate on any cuisine, we like to call you foodies (we mean taste) lovers!

We thought it was only fitting to produce a storytelling series. We’ll be using intentional floral design to showcase Serenity at Last through the Five Senses.

See — Serenity at Last

Quick fixes, constant distractions from technology, instant gratifications, fast-paced lifestyles, profits over people: occurrences that are collectively destroying us. Us, being a society of connected, socially, mentally, physically well human beings.

This is seeing Serenity at Last.

A modern-day representation of life ~ a path we must acknowledge. It’s time we pause to reflect and identify two central choices we make each day. Is the seemingly easier path actually easier?

Imagine floating down the river (with your favorite beverage in hand). You see two separate, yet interesting worlds on either side of the river bank.

At the end of the float, you’ll deposit a check — a check written just for you. The question is, which check will you choose to deposit?

On one side of the river bank live the kings and queens. Luxury, surplus, excess, and consumption flow among the land. Each king and queen chose to cash a check written for $250,000,000.00, deposited immediately but under one condition. Those who chose to live on this side of the river agreed to live half of their potential lifespan. They’d grow infected with deadly cancers and diseases, only to pass on illnesses through the remainder of their bloodlines. Their fast-paced, profits-over-people, quick-fix structured lifestyle was unknowingly destroying them. Although, all of their needs would always be met and they could forgo all work, if they wanted to do so.

The other side of the river live the ~ ordinary. The everyday, average individuals just trying to get by, take care of their families, and aspiring to live lives with great meaning. These individuals cashed a check for $2,500 AND were required to give away half of all funds. So technically, they would start their lives with $1,250. The people of this land agreed they’d have to work very hard to get by. They’d need to rely heavily on their communities to support one another, and they would often grow tired from their physical labor. However, the people on this side of the river would always have access to the cleanest water sources, the most pure of foods and medicines. And surprisingly, their mental health indicated a whopping 87% increase of life satisfaction compared to those on the other side.

Maybe less is actually more? Maybe for some of us it is, maybe for others it’s not. But overconsumption, surplus, quick fixes, and fast-paced lifestyles come with a price to pay, whether we’re aware of it or not. This is seeing Serenity at Last — and the foundation of intentional floral design.

Smell — Serenity at Last

A tribute to Jon Gordon’s, The Garden

Imagine walking through a luscious garden filled with shrubs, herbs, and saplings. You’re caught off guard by the most alluring scent — a scent you’ve never encountered before. Bold yet delicate, a blend of floral fragrance infused with smokey, incense aromas. Simply put, you’d never smelled something like this before.

As you exited the garden, you’d notice the back of a sign that read EGO Death. Ego Death? You swung around front to read more. The front of the sign read:

Welcome to The Tree of Life Garden ~ the most aromatic garden in the world ~ featuring the one-of-a-kind oak tree called The Tree of Life.

This oak is unlike any other oak tree to exist anywhere else in the world. For this oak is where those come to understand who they truly are. The aromas grow increasingly overwhelming the moment a human being steps foot into The Tree of Life Garden. A preternatural experience occurs for those who walk through — and that experience is called Death of the Ego.

Immediately, upon entering The Tree of Life Garden, one grows instantly connected with God through the fumes of the garden, as the aromas from The Tree of Life shed the ego. In fact, those who smell the oak walk out believing their identity is not meant to be in themselves. For identity in oneself gives rise to the ego, which Edges God Out and leads to pride. And pride leads to our demise.

Serenity smells like shedding our ego and allowing our Creator’s greater plan. This is intentional floral design, expressed through scent.

Feel — Serenity at Last

Serenity feels like there is enough Merry & Mary to go around.
Peace is accessible, plentiful, abundant, hopeful, loving, and joyful…if we all peace in.

Serenity feels like enough Merry to go ’round.
Serenity feels like enough Mary — hope, salvation, and faithfulness — to go around.

Taste — Serenity at Last

We can taste Serenity at Last by going on a date with faith. Faith means having complete trust in someone or something. So, just like a date we’d consume, what if we were able to zoom out and realize the very source that would truly feed us was the central pit of the date? A part of the fruit that is not seen and often overlooked?

What if consuming the date’s pit was not conventional, but guaranteed to feed our minds, our bodies, and our spirits the way we were always meant to be fed?

Through faith, we trust that we will be fed, even if the very thing that will feed us is not seen. This is tasting Serenity at Last through intentional floral design.

Hear — Serenity at Last

The sound of serenity is an unspoken river of silence.
This is hearing Serenity at Last.