Generosity Prop

For this piece I thought about a time in the past few months that I have received intentional generosity from someone. A moment that came to mind was when I was about to embark on a long drive and was saying goodbye to a friend. When I'm running late I tend to get stressed on my way out the door, so I was rushing and they stopped me. They led me to their backyard and proceeded to pick me a bouquet of flowers from their garden, and put it on my windshield in my car, before wishing me a safe journey. About 6 months later, I still have those flowers, now dried, on my windshield, and every time I drive somewhere, I think about that moment. We are all journeying at all times, as we are cosmic travelers, and sometimes the journey is long and laborious. I wanted to give away these bouquets as talismans for the journey ahead. On the student's way out, I asked where they were going and selected flowers to create into a bouquet for them. I had written "Safety and care for the journey and beyond" on each bouquet, and wished them safe travels as they headed to their next destination. Knowing that someone cares about where I am going, how I am going to get there, and whether I make it safe really makes me feel loved and seen. I wanted to convey this feeling to my classmates, as in college, it can be easy to feel alone/isolated, especially in this emotional and isolated time of covid, elections, and intense social polarization. I bought three bouquets from trader joes (flowers that I thought would dry nicely) and picked some lavender and sage from outside our classroom. I enjoyed creating the bouquets for each person as they spoke to me instead of creating them beforehand, as I think that making something with care in front of its recipient is generous and loving. I also enjoyed the intimacy that came with getting a little bit of time with each individual rather than just handing someone something briefly. I felt like I got to know each student better as they told me where they were headed and how they would get there. Seeing glimpses into others' days, no matter how small, makes us see each other better and feel in unison with our humanity. Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment and getting to share something that was tender and special to me with others. I want to carry this theme of generosity into my future art endeavors-- 'how can I make this a gift to someone?' is a great question to have in the back of our minds as we approach creating things that others will see.