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wildroses,jasmine,dandelions.SometimesI alsolook
themupandlearnaboutthem.I marvelat leavesthat
disguisethemselvesasflowers,andviceversa,andthe
namesthataresodifferentin eachlanguage—andI also
learna lotfromtheresponsestomypostsonInstagram.
Reallylookingatsomethingproperlymakesmefeel
socalm.It alsoremindsmeeverytimeofa verysimple
truth:Nothingin lifeknowsonlya timeofblossoming.
Theonlyflowersthatbloomforeveraremadeofplastic.
In reallife,thingsareconstantlybudding,blooming
andwilting.Andit happensallatthesametime;these
thingsgohandin hand.In additiontoeverythingthat’s
ending,there’salwayssomethingabouttoflourish.And
eachstageis goodforsomething.Nowherecanthatbe
seenasclearlyandbeautifullyasin a flowerbush.MoreflowersfromJocelyncanbefoundat@jocelyndekwant
and#jocelynsflowerstages.A fewyearsago,I wasin a badmoodeventhough
I wasonvacation.I wasin Spainandthesunwas
shining,butI wasfeelingdownandworryingabout
differentstuff.A fewbadthingsweregoingon,andI
wasangrywithsomeone.That’sthegloomymood
I wasin whilesittingin a lushSpanishgarden,
surroundedbyflowersbutnotreallyseeingthem.
Theywerejustbackground.ButthenI noticeda wilted
blossomhangingin a colorfulLantanabush(interesting
factabouttheLantanacamara: Eachblossomis
actuallya clusteroflittleflowers).AsI continued
lookingmoreclosely,I noticedmoreofthem.I alsosaw
flowerbudsthatcouldburstintobloomatanymoment.
Anda clusterin whichtheflowershadfadedintolittle
blackberries,probablycontainingtheseedsforthe
nextgeneration.Allthedifferentstagesofa flower’slife
cycle,cozilyhangingouttogetherin oneflowerbush.
Withoutreallythinkingaboutit, I pickedsome
blossomsandarrangedthemin therightorder,neatly
in a row.I tooka photoofthemandpostedit onmy
Instagramaccount.Thiswholeprocesshadmademe
happy;I feltsolightandcheerfulthatI almostforgot
howgloomyI’dbeenfeelingwhenI started.
Long story short: It is on that vacation that I
discovered a new hobby. I have continued doing this,
arranging flowers according to their life cycle and taking
a photograph. Sometimes I stop when I’m on my way
somewhere, to pick something that catches my eye: TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHYJOCELYN DE KWANTHAND-LETTERINGVALESCA VAN WAVERENPAPAVER RHOEAS ‘This giant poppy is called Mother of Pearl. I dried the seed pod and saved it for next year.’