Flowers and Hygge

Last Monday I received great news.

A publisher in the U.K wanted to publish a book I had submitted to them! 

I was over the moon.

Estatic.

In my mind there was the boom of fire works, celebratory drumming and the Be Our Guest scene from Beauty & The Beast. 

Yet this honour would come for a price of 4,400.53 in Australian dollars! 

After trying to get published for so long I was ready to consider it. At the concerned urging of my family, I dug a little deeper. 

Two days of research when my investigation yielded unfortunate findings about this publisher. Alot of yucky reviews that prickled my intuition that beneath the gloss and the pretty Royal Mail stamp which sealed my publishing offer, there was something greedy about this company. I went one step further and sought the advice of A.S.A and an industry professional in editing and writing. 

I received cautionary emails back about the risk writers run with contributory contracts that require that much money. A piece of advice I got from a published poet was that if a publishing company wants your work, they will take a risk on you, whether its your first print or not. So with what I know now, I will just move on and find a publisher that will take a chance on my work because I have already paid with hours of sweat, love and creativity. My payment to this creative genius was done.

With that being said, I was still a little blue on Saturday just gone. Luckily, *Victoria and her husband *Zeus were on their way to the Rocklea Flower Markets. 

I literally stopped, smelled and roses and realised that at one point these beauties had grown from shit - I can too.  

My spirits lifted and I chatted, laughed, compared and consulted on flower arrangements with *Victoria as we strode through the aisles crowded with fellow flower lovers and pretty blooms in every colour. 

Despite my best attempts at not buying anything, the flowers attracted me to their beauty and radiance. I thought of my dining empty dining room table and realised I needed something beautiful to take home.

I bought a cluster of baby's breath and a bunch of purple flowers with a couple of pink roses throughout. 

Happy with my arrangement, I paid at the counter and waited for *Victoria outside and when she came out she carried an additional bouquet that she had received as a complimentary gift. She told me the flowers wouldn't work with her bouquet and offered them to me. When I got home, I washed the dishes, cleaned the sink and filled it with water so my flowers could stay hydrated. I snipped the end of the stems equally before lovingly grouping the flowers together. For an hour I stood at that sink arranging bouquet after bouquet. Then I found homes for them, on the dining room table and around the fire-place. And when my friend Rachel came over she bought three of the happiest sunflowers I had ever seen. Funnily enough, I had a bouquet of flowers for her too!

I have been reading up on Hygge, a Swedish custom for waiting out Winter.

Hygge is about creating a spaces of ambiance and cosiness for good company. 

Clean and cosy rooms, eco-friendly recyling, the burning of sweet scented candles, cuddly blankets and happy vibes. 

This Winter I am going to create Hygge for all year-round.

A group of friends and I have started having nights sitting around a fire pit, roasting marshmellows and talking about life, love and the every day joys and struggles of being human.
Last Wednesday Jess came around and we made a small fire in a ceramic pot with kindling and newspaper. Nearly everyday since then, just before sunset - I light a fire and think about nothing but the dancing flames and feeding the fire.