Blue Skies…

There’s this phrase that keeps running in my head “Leading with my spirit.” It’s a feeling that came to me the first day I started randomblooms. And the past couple weeks, I feel like I’m leading with my spirit rather than being buried by the minutiae of the weekday. Which is amazing. Not to be too dramatic, but just like Kevin Spacey’s character in LA Confidential when he’s asked why he became a detective (I think that’s what he’s being asked but I know that he’s this jaded, corrupt character who’s lost his way) and all he can answer in a dazed, out of focus candor is “I can’t remember.”, if someone were to come up to me most weekdays and say “Hey! Where’s your true spirit!” I might give that distant, out of focus look and in a faint whisper, answer “I can’t remember.”

So, forgive me if this sounds in any way like an oscar speech (they’re all so sterile now anyway) but thank you to anyone who’s gotten a bouquet and taken the time to share their experience. Tom, I have no idea what your new project was but I love that your flowers felt like a symbol of good luck for it. And Lauren, that the flowers were so delightful to receive makes me smile. Not only do I love that you felt so uplifted by them but more importantly that the words on the card resonated with you. They’re written for you, me and anyone else who’s caught in the riptide of the work week.

It’s a funny thing with flowers. Sometimes you don’t hear from people until about a week later, like Virginia from Marie et Cei in Studio City. They were in the very first round of drop offs. I followed through on this whisper of an idea, did my first drop off on a Thursday, and was so fed that day and the next, that my weekend was kind of a creative let down. In fact, I remember that Saturday morning I was all set to go walking with my dog, when without thinking, I drove right to Marie et Cei for a cup of coffee. I didn’t need the coffee but I wanted to check on my flowers and that was the only place where one of the bouquets might still be there. And they were. Sitting right on the piano near the window. Holding my coffee and feeling like a complete street urchin, I got a huge cup of water and discreetly dumped it in the bucket.

I remember a couple of years ago I had gone to the downtown flower mart, I think to give my dad some flowers for his birthday. I always end up with extra bouquets and I gave one of them to my friend, Isaac. I was joking with him that in delivering his flowers I felt like Meryl Streep in some movie where her life is perfect for the first twenty minutes and then you realize that some evil is lurking beneath the surface of that seemingly perfect life. My sides ached I thought that was so funny, but I distinctly remember thinking that making flowers for people looks from the outside like this gesture of a perfect life.

Why am I remembering this now and what does it have to do with today’s post? I’m not sure exactly but I know I love laughing until my sides hurt. When I was putting this site together and I saw Flower Power of Another Kind, I thought that was funny. It just tickled me and my laughter reminded me of when I was 5 years old and my family and I went to this dude ranch where my horse’s name was Maude. And I just laughed and laughed because I knew that they had given me the slowest, oldest, horse because I was so young. Everyone else had horses like Rocket, Popcorn or Joker but I was to be with Maude. And sure enough, Maude was this sweet old thing who was trailing about a mile behind everyone else.

I haven’t seen Isaac in a couple of years since he moved to New York and interestingly, I had a dream about him a couple of days ago. There’s a lot in my life that’s uncertain right now and I remember being in a mild panic about all of it as I woke to the dim blue of the early morning. I couldn’t remember what I had just dreamt but I knew Isaac was in it and I sat there in my anxiety thinking “What would Isaac do?” Isaac is someone who goes fiercely after his dreams. He once said to me “You put me in the ocean and I’ll see how far I can swim.”

Last Friday as I was dropping off my 3 bouquets I remember thinking to myself, “I don’t want this gesture to feel like candy and marshmallows to people – like there’s no edge or depth to it.” And maybe that’s why my mind lead me to Isaac and that moment of Meryl Streep with her perfect life in the thriller we all go to see. The funny thing is, to many of my family and friends there’s really nothing to fuss about in my life. Even my friend, K, at a dinner party said after a glass of wine “Believe me, she’s got a job that a lot of people would love to have.” But it’s not about how great or not our lives seem to others. And there’s something deeper I’m looking for in all of this. I want to see how far I can swim. I want to see how high my spirit can soar in the world. So I’m leading with my spirit.

can I please slow down and smell the flowers…

Today’s drop offs

   Post to follow…

whirling dervish…

Dahlia Dervish and Camry Landing

   The morning rush to work. So much so that a blue, Toyota Camry got the first bouquet, not a human face. There just wasn’t time. I had to drop these flowers off en route to work with no extra time. Winding along Mulholland Drive, Runyan park emerges on my left and I know that this is where the first of two drop offs will take place.

It’s not as easy to decide which automobile should have fresh flowers as you might think. The black Prius? My first impulse, but that futuristic design gives me the image of the bucket continually and slowly sliding to its demise on the dirt ground. Perhaps the beat up Jeep Cherokee with Minnesota plates? But then I think of some happy-go-lucky Minnesotan who’s visiting a friend and taking in a hike at Runyan on their day of leisure.

I want these flowers to go to someone that’s in the LA weekday grind. Someone who could really use a pick-me-up. Suddenly the luxury cars seem off limits and I catch myself thinking what I don’t believe; that one person is more deserving of upliftment during the day than someone else or that I want to give flowers to someone based on what? Flower need?

When I told friends this idea, a lot of them would automatically say things like “Oh, you should go to the barrio.” And I thought, yea, the Barrio, Beverly Hills, and everything in between. I want to share this with everyone. And yet here I am pre-determining who should get these flowers based on metal. And, I’m wasting time.

Yet the truth is, once I started making associations with certain cars, it was hard to shake. And at this point I just needed to pick a car. I went for the powder blue Camry. It had a nice, square flat hood and let’s face it, in the back of my mind I was hoping that the person who drove that Camry would appreciate getting these flowers on their car.

Because that’s really what my friends are getting at when they suggest a certain neighborhood. They’re wanting appreciation for my efforts as much as I do. And the truth is, the person belonging to that blue Camry could have come back to their car in a morning rush of their own, annoyed that there’s this object on their car that makes no sense to them. They might have thrown it off their hood with no time to be bothered. When in fact that rested Minnesotan might have really loved that surprise, taking the time to appreciate what he or she found. And to go a level further in honesty (which I love doing) the person I’m doing this for is me. I’m the one caught in the weekly grind. I’m the one who needs the pick-me-up.

And it works. I drive off smiling - excited about what that person’s going to find on their parked car and filled with anticipation for the person who will get the next one.

The serpentine of cars make their way through the Coldwater traffic light. I’m looking at the other bouquet on my seat. The red dahlia makes me incredibly happy and as I’m looking, the cars in front of me go forward and the man in the black Mercedes behind me honks. And I’m thinking “Maybe this one’s for him.”

the drop off…

First Round

So people hanging out at cafes in Studio City do accept free flowers. Which is a good thing. Especially since my friend, m, kept envisioning people running away from me and me chasing after them screaming “Take the damn flowers!” The other scenario that came to m’s mind was “They’re gonna think there’s a bomb in them.” Good thing a) I wasn’t trying to push them through LAX security and b) it was a trusting group.

And they were, I have to say, all fabulous. All five people that each got a bouquet of flowers this morning. Visual moments from each encounter stick out in my mind, like the elderly woman sitting down to her bran muffin and coffee, moving as slowly as my grandfather used to move. And then looking up at me with her glassy blue eyes after looking down at the bucket of flowers and then back to me in wonderment saying “Well what would I do with these?” I reassured her that she could take them home and just enjoy them. “They’re so pretty.” She concluded as I walked away.

The woman with the seemingly Carribean accent kept telling me how much she loved flowers and insisted on giving me her card and getting my information. The words randomblooms are written on each card that accompanies the bouquets and I told her that she could find me that way. I’m pretty sure that 80 year old woman won’t be googling me anytime soon.

When I walked into the next cafe with a bouquet of flowers, a man reading the paper and lounging on the vintage couch inquired “Are you here for Charles?” I must have looked like a professional delivery. I played the game. “I don’t know, who’s Charles?” I responded. Turns out, he’s the owner who happened to be about five feet away from me. And it turns out his father was just getting out of the hospital, so he thought someone had sent him flowers. Those flowers were definitely meant for him.

The last delivery went to two very pretty, hip-looking women sitting outside. They got the first arrangement I made that morning. There’s usually one flower arrangement that makes my heart sing it’s so beautiful. That was the one. They were both thrilled to have the flowers and, unless they were a couple, I wondered who would end up taking it home.

I get very attached to my little creations. The blond woman in a beige, trench coat meeting some man at the cafe, whom I had given the third arrangment to, was telling the man “Help me put these in the car.” I had to let go and let god, but inside I was like “Don’t leave them in the the car too long, they’ll melt. They’ll suffocate. Roll down the windows for crying out loud.” But I didn’t say a word. I had already moved on to the very appreciative Carribean woman and it was out of my hands. They’re free to care for them or neglect them as much as they want.

Huge success this morning, I’d say. Aside from the self-consciousness factor which was there a little bit. Not as much I’m sure, as my friend in college who had her pants down while putting a seat cover on the toilet, when the door swung open to a waiting crowd. Not that self-conscious, but aware that there’s always a little vulnerability when you reveal your true spirit, period. Hey, just because this feels like something fun for me, doesn’t mean I want to be chasing you down the street yelling “Take the damn flowers!” either.

Well, until the next 5:30am drive to the downtown flower mart, keep the stems clipped, water fresh and enjoy the ride.

About…

This site is dedicated to those who want to reinvent their work week. For people who want monday through friday to be about following your bliss. For anyone who catches themselves saying ”thank god it’s friday” and would rather say “thank god it’s today!”. The site started as a way for me to keep my creative spirit uplifted during the week. The concept is simple: do what I love and share it with others. The outcome: go to the downtown flower mart, make beautiful bouqets and give them away to random people on my way to work.

Hello world!

What is your highest joy!!!