Stupid Rule Follower

A few years ago, we were on a family vacation to Disney World and my husband and I had “a moment”…and not one of the good ones! It was hot, everyone was getting a little hangry and my darling hubby decided that we were going to skirt a posted rule. My daughter and I strongly insisted that we not, and my hubby called me a “stupid rule follower”.  What I heard, was him calling me “stupid” for following rules; what he meant (and it was not a compliment!) was that I was a follower of “stupid rules”. It wasn’t very funny at that moment in the middle of Disney, but it’s now an often referenced, inside joke between us. I’m telling you this story because in a previous post I mentioned that I was a “consummate questioner of rules” and I decided that maybe I should clarify. No, I don’t run around wildly breaking rules and I generally follow signs that dictate how we should operate in public spaces. I do however, think a great deal about the “why” of what I do or am asked to do or “how” things function. This served me well in my first career in plant genetics – I got to ask questions and research/experiment to find the answers and loved every minute of it! For a lot of reasons (stories for yet another post), I now find myself in my second career as a flower farmer/bouquet maker. When I first began to throw together bouquets, I didn’t know color theory or the “rules” for bouquet ingredients and my choice of container was never particularly inspired, but I loved the process of choosing flowers and arranging them to suit my fancy. In more recent years, I’ve spent hours poring over books, articles and videos learning about flowers, gardening and flower arranging. I’ve gathered buckets of blooms, made bouquets galore using all that information and yet, I still find myself creating things that “suit my fancy”! I know the flower “rules” now and I follow them (most of the time!) But, I still question the why and test other options. The result? A mixed bag of successes and epic fails! What I've learned is that sometimes the rules are there because it’s the best way to complete the task with the highest probability of a fantastic outcome and sometimes, the rules are there because it’s just how “it’s always been done” or “so-and-so said that’s the way to do it”. The bottom line is this:  when it comes to flower arrangements follow the rules that make sense and give you the best outcomes and bend the rules that aren’t set in stone. Make things that suit your fancy, experiment and try new things. Don’t just be a stupid rule follower!