Flower Queen | Atelier 1879

She called me a flower queen, and that's when I realized maybe my purpose in life is to capture beauty and share it with others. I left the engagement party, bouquet in hand, after selecting only the most beautiful stems from each vase that decorated the tables in the venue. I shall transform these from fresh to dried in the same way I turn my ideas into stone. This very piece I'm writing is proof that I want to document my experiences, turn them from something fleeting into something tangible. Maybe we can defy our own mortality in this same way. Maybe, with each story I tell, I am tattooing paper with the notion that I was here. I walked this earth and observed and created. I will die, just as these flowers will, but our remains can change form. They can turn from something vividly alive into something more muted, but just as beautiful. Maybe my legacy of "Flower Queen" will carry on, just as the legacy of this once-fresh, now-dried bouquet will. Does anything ever end? Maybe matter never dies. Maybe it just changes form in the same way pages of a book - even when burned - will still be ash. People who have passed remain alive in our hearts, and flowers that have died remain artfully arranged in dried bouquets around my home. We appreciate the temporary because we never know when it will fade. This celebration of love I attended was just a few hours long, but it had a lasting impact on me. It evoked so much emotion, not only for the happy couple and our chosen family, but also for the setting itself. It was held at Atelier 1879. "Atelier", meaning a workshop or studio used by an artist or designer, was a space I could have called home. Every ornate piece of decor, vintage item, and aesthetically pleasing accent came together to curate an inspiring atmosphere. It appeared to be an old auto repair shop or something of the sorts. It's amazing what can occur when something like a space to gather is transformed. Maybe in another life, perhaps in the year 1879, I was a florist in Benton Park. Maybe this has all just come full circle. I'm not sure if I believe in past lives, but the thought is intriguing.