Vase first, next flower?
Did not work, I tried my best.
Next, look at flower
Then pick vase. Wow! Eureka!
Light touch. Wouldn’t it be nice . . .
This God shot is about a basic rule in Ikebana (flower arranging). You always find a vase that matches the flowers. Being a beginner, I chose a vase that I fell in love with. (Btw, this Ikebana class was held in Yokohama Japan). Well, I tried every trick in the book to force the flowers into the vase I was in love with. It did not work. Our instructor came by and kindly pointed out my error and reminded me that Sangetsu does not use the usual tricks that other schools of ikebana uses to make flower arrangements. Armed with new wisdom, I went back to the storage location and found a vase that matched the flowers I had. Well, I had limited experience using this type of vase so I thought I expertly placed the flower in the vase to stabilize it. The flower looked a little short for the vase but I felt I had no choice. Then it happened . . . our instructor, who btw was from Sri lanka, said my arrangement looked ok . . . but she said, “what do you think about this small change?” Between two fingers, she lightly held the stem of the flower and she slowly raised it out of the vase. I thought the change would look great but I was sure the stem and flower would fall because of gravity. She slowly let go of it and what happened next was a miracle. “Wouldn’t it be nice if the flower stabilized in that position? Wow, it did! Lesson? Any miracle is a message from God. And I am incorporating these lessons into my life. All parts of my life . . . not only in Ikebana.
My Journey into the Daylight Age 