On my way home from the grocery store yesterday, my Dad stopped the car and told me to look out my window. I proceeded to rip my eyes from my phone screen and see a field of bright blue wildflowers. They weren’t actually wildflowers though. After a quick debate of where they had come from, I saw just across the street the same flower in a flower bed beneath a tree. Just one set of flowers gave life to a whole field just 20 feet away.
With the current world climate, there are two ways you can spin this scenario: one flower who stayed home allowed a whole field of flowers to live or one flower going out is what caused a whole field to be exposed. I think it’s fair to say that most of us will choose to think optimistically and choose the first option. But it is a sad reality that the latter one is just as plausible.
After searching on the internet, Home Depot’s and Lowes’ online selection of flowers I have not been able to find this flower’s name, but I can conclude that it is some type of lavender hybrid. I then began researching the symbolism of lavender both as a plant and as a color; lavender as a flower has been known to symbolize caution. The color lavender itself is known to relate to the seventh chakra at the top of the head. In Ancient Greece, lavender was placed in temples and shrines to bring healing to their bodies through vibrations. I am not one to believe it random signs from God but this certainly got me thinking, as it is too strong of a coincidence.
I think the rebirth of the natural world around us is a sign–a sign that we as the predators have seriously fucked up. When the world slowly returns to its ‘normal’ we as a population needs to proceed with caution. The Earth is not ours to destroy and quite frankly I think this virus is God’s way of slowing us down.

I really enjoyed this, Hannah. I loved the statement you made about if one flower who stayed home allowed all the other flowers to live. It completely relates to what the whole world is going through now, just a different perspective with flowers rather than people. This was very well written and very eye-opening as well.
-Grace Smithmyer
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Hi Hannah! Your picture of the blue flowers is so pretty!!! One line in your post that really caught my attention was “The Earth is not ours to destroy and quite frankly I think this virus is God’s way of slowing us down.” We should never be destorying the Earth and our atmosphere but yet some people have the tendency to continue to do it eventhough they know its harmful to our environment. I think the Earth is truly a beautiful gift especially now; we can sit outside on a nice day and the beautiful weather can help everyone cheer up from this horrible virus causing the depression of staying home and distance from friends, families, and even your everyday lives. I love how you made the association with the virus just slowing us down in life; it is a good representation because some people think the world is just going to end up the phrase of “this virus is God’s way of slowing us down” brings some hope to the society as a whole. Overall, this was a really well written piece and I enjoyed it so much!!
-Alexis Lichten
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Hannah, I really enjoyed reading your piece. I more than appreciate your relation between flowers and us humans. The line, “one flower who stayed home allowed a whole field of flowers to live or one flower going out is what caused a whole field to be exposed,” really allowed me to reflect on its meaning and how we as individuals affect not only each other but the world around us.
I appreciate the optimistic yet confident, stern nature of the closing statement, “When the world slowly returns to its ‘normal’ we as a population needs to proceed with caution. The Earth is not ours to destroy and quite frankly I think this virus is God’s way of slowing us down.” Your words offer a new perspective, a new way to think about what is going on right now and perhaps why. Maybe we are being punished for our actions against nature, and now it is their time to flourish. Maybe if we follow the rules during the pandemic, we will have a better outcome in the future, and we will learn to value the little things, such as nature even more.
Thank you for your wonderful writing!
-Toni Abdy
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