Flowers make Sam Smile. Through a lot of trials, I realized that seeing, smelling and taking care of flowers is amazing therapy for the hurting soul, mind, and body. There are certain flowers and certain colors that really speak to me, especially when I am down. The daffodil is one of them. Any yellow flower speaks sunshine and smiles to me, but the daffodil holds a special place in my heart. The daffodil is one of the first flowers to bloom in the midwest in the spring. It brings one of the first signs of life after a sometimes long, cold, rough winter.
The Language of Flowers
A few years back, while sitting in the waiting room at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, I began surfing the internet perusing flowers and their colors and meanings. I realized that there were so many different meanings for each flower, depending on which website you studied. A friend of mine led me to a very intriguing book of a girl who had nothing – no possessions, no money, no home. Through a series of mishaps, she was drawn to flowers and through this fascination and an observant foster mom, she realized the joy and the hope that came from flowers in many ways. Homeless and rolling in the flowerbeds led her to discover the tranquility and deep-seeded raw emotions that the flowers brought to her lonely life. It was while reading this book that I realized that flowers had meaning, and depending on the time (era), the color, and the viewpoint, many flowers had true meaning that would give me joy and hope in the midst of some difficult days. And of course…smiles!
The Color Yellow
To me the color yellow signals light. Light in the darkness, sunshine and warmth. Yellow is a warm color and makes me feel happy. I think of the smiley face emoji’s when I think of yellow. Yellow is a bold, illuminating color that spreads cheer wherever it shows up in life. Yellow also signifies caution, like in the center of the stoplight – yellow means proceed with caution. This makes sense because the human eye processes the color yellow before any other color, and it is the most dramatic and stands out on the color spectrum. Did you know that in China, adult movies are called “Yellow Movies”? or that in Japan yellow represents courage? Just like the daffodil flower is also called a narcissus, yellow is complex and has many different and somewhat opposing attributes in just a sole unique primary color.
The Daffodil
The meaning of the daffodil breathes creativity and inspiration. The flower symbolizes awareness and inner reflection. A bunch of daffodils begs for forgiveness and suggests rebirth and new beginnings. In other countries, it symbolizes good fortune and joy. In France the daffodil is a sign of hope, and the Arabians look to the flower as a cure for baldness. In the United States, the American Cancer Foundation uses the daffodil to represent hope for a cure from the dreaded disease. It is also the flower of the month of March in America.
The Narcissus
Although the narcissus flower is the same flower as the daffodil, the ardor of the narcissus is quite the opposite. The narcissus flower brings about narcissism and is thought to be egocentric. It predicts misfortune in the future and self-obsession. Even though there are these negative attributes and meanings of the narcissus, it still signals new birth and new beginnings, just with a bit of a different twist! The positive twist is a meaning of self-confidence and ambition.
Mixed Messages
There is a theory that suggests that if you give a single flower – daffodil OR narcissus – there is an indication of wishing “misfortune” but if you give a bunch of the flowers, you are offering “happiness” and “joy”.
One Flower, Two Names, What a Mystery – Makes Sam Smile!
Daffodil, Narcissus – it doesn’t matter! The shared feeling of new beginnings is a reason to smile. There are so many things in my life that have the potential to drag me down, it’s refreshing to think of warm yellow flowers that boast joy. I am in the middle of writing a book about narcissism and dealing with difficult relationships and this post reminds me that although narcissists are self-centered and difficult to relate to, there often is another side to them if we can just look deeper and understand that other side. In my research, I have found that sometimes the best way to handle a narcissist is to just smile and walk away knowing that God created everyone different. And please don’t ever give me a single narcissus – I’ll know what you are trying to say. Give Sam a bunch of daffodils, and you will definitely see Sam Smile!