Winter is traditionally characterized as a time of quiet respite. It’s a season to hunker down and ride out the frigid cold temperatures that plague much of the far northern latitudes. The days are shorter, and the nights are longer, leaving us in literal darkness for a much longer time.
That’s where this special little flower comes in: the pansy. It’s such an inauspicious name, often interpreted as offensive, but its roots have a certain type of magic in them. They are one of the few flowers that bloom in the snow during those cold months at the beginning of each new year. They exude a sense of determination and willpower, even if that trait seems impossible for a plant.
The pansy reaches for the light and blooms whenever it sees fit, no matter what the rest of the world around it says should be so. Its name comes from the French word, penser, which means to think or ponder. There’s a fitting serendipity to that marriage between thought and the quiet dark season in which it blooms. And it feels like a little extra dose of kismet to learn that the pansy is the birth flower for the month of February.
All of this is to say that too often we believe that things need to be done or achieved at a societally approved time or in a particular set of conditions. Pansies remind us that even in the darkest times, we can break through the cold adversity surrounding us, reach for the light, and bloom into the truest version of ourselves on our own terms.
The language of flowers plays a prominent role in the developing relationship between Drew Stratton and Maria Caldwell in “Splendid Chaos”. If this topic is of interest and you’d like to experience more, I invite you to visit with Drew and Maria at www.davecenker.com/splendid-chaos, where you learn more about them and read a free sample of their story.
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