I took pictures of flowers everyday for a year
If this quarantine taught us anything about the environment, it’s that we really are the problem. When the lockdown started almost a year ago this week in the States, we saw as animals moved back into areas they once roamed, before it was imperialized by human beings. The air felt cleaner as more people stayed home instead of driving to work, school, and traveled. I was so awed at that time about how incredible our world is and struck by how detrimental human beings have been to it.
I started going on daily walks to get out of the house and take a moment for myself. I noticed my surroundings much more now and started taking photographs of flowers at least once every walk. I discovered all these different areas of my city I hadn’t been to before. I took moments to myself to soak up the beauty of the environment around me. It was incredible to take those moments, snap a picture, and keep that flower with me forever.
They obviously weren’t the best photos, but the routine made me stop and take a moment to appreciate it. Flowers tend to blend into the background over time. I love them and get so excited when I get any, but I never took a moment to look at the ones around me and really observe the colors, shapes, and smells. It was almost meditative to just take a moment and breathe in the fresh air (through a mask of course), and take a photo of a flower that truly made me stop and think.
In the madness of everything around us, that flower is just a flower. It’s beautiful, colorful, and lovely but it too will wither and fall apart just like we all did throughout the pandemic. However, the flower continues to bask in the sunlight, shine its colors outwards, and live on amongst the greenery and neighborhood chaos.
Now, I’d be lying if I said I left the house every single day during this past year and snapped a photo, but explaining all that would be a much lengthier title. But at least 5 days a week, I’d venture out, take a few snapshots and go home to worry about other things. But in those moments where I walked alone and took a second to sit with just me and those flowers, everything felt normal for a moment. Life is all about finding the good when things get difficult and working through the pain to find that good again. Taking it moment by moment and flower by flower, makes the whole thing a little less daunting. And besides, who doesn’t like a crappy iPhone picture?
