5 Ways to Tap into Blue Flower Power

Apr 16
6 min read

Updated: May 19

We’ve seen how important the Blue Flower was to the Romantics. They believed that in seeking beauty and meaning and imagination you could live a life that feels alive. And you could do this through “small” things: things like walking, art, conversation, creating things, paying attention.

So here are five ways to tap into the power of the Blue Flower:

1. Connect with Nature

William Wordsworth

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher." (The Tables Turned)

No phone or headphones - just get out there. Go for a walk. You'll start noticing things. The rhythm of your steps, the way that the light hits the ground. The Japanese have something called “forest bathing” (shinrin-yoku). And it really helps psychologically, It helps on all levels – stress and anxiety. It recharges your ability to focus. It’s like a reset.

And for the Romantics, it was huge. William Wordsworth, who supposedly walked over 180,000 miles in his life, would use the rhythm of his walking to compose his poetry. The movement itself was vital to him, allowing him to tap into his inner creativity. Keats walked around Scotland, and talked about using the physical strain of walking to elevate his sensibility. Coleridge would walk in extreme weather to get closer to the sublime—the terrifyingly beautiful. It is all about feeling alive.

2. Appreciate Art

John Keats

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."

(Endymion)

Stand in front of a painting and really look at it. I did this recently in the Modigliani room in DC. One of the portraits caught my eye when I saw a similarity between it and an old friend. Then I looked at the other ones and I began noticing similarities to other people I knew. It became like a game and it was fun. I’ve always viewed art as a potential thin place.

For the Romantics it went beyond just appreciating the art. They would try to “enter” it. In other words, you don’t just see the surface – the colors, the composition—you try to feel the same longing (Sehnsucht) that the artist felt.

They also looked at art as a mirror. How you look at it reveals yourself. So if some kind of art moves you to tears or fills you with awe, that means something, That's a part of your "inner forest" that you haven't discovered yet.

Caspar David Friedrich - The Monk by the Sea 1809

And for the Romantics, art had levels. They would distinguish between two distinct feelings that you got when you looked at art. First, there was the beautiful. That was when everything was pretty and balanced. It would make you feel peaceful. For me, I think about a Renoir or maybe a Monet. But then there was the sublime, and that is when you felt overwhelmed, maybe even a little afraid. And it forces you to expand your mind beyond its usual limits. It’s the type of artwork that stays with you. For me, it’s Caspar Friedrich's “The Monk by the Sea.”

3. Cultivate Human Connection

William Wordsworth

In the poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," Wordsworth describes a field of daffodils and the joy he feels in nature. But then at the end of the poem he makes the point that this joy he experiences in nature is only fully realized when it can be shared with others. He writes, "And then my heart with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils."

This is about sitting down with someone and not pressing anything. No multitasking, no phones. Just experiencing their company. Not so much to say here since it’s obvious, but it can be difficult when everyone is pulled in a million directions

Coleridge talked about importance of connecting. He used the metaphor of a sheltering tree. The connection with friends was like a protective force that would keep you alive during life's difficulties. And the Romantics didn't just sit and talk. They actually walked together.

Loneliness is very real right now. In fact, young people in particular seem to be affected the most. But loneliness and solitude are very different things. Solitude for the Romantics was a sacred place. They talked about it being a “cleansing fire” that removed all noise of society. So many of the poems talk about solitary figures (wanderers, etc.), the feeling of being "tiny and alone" was considered the most honest human experience. It was a way of experiencing the sublime. Solitude was the price of admission for a deep and fulfilling life.

But there is also a darker side to this, and that’s where loneliness is not solitude, but a void. And that’s where these things we’re talking about now come in. So let’s move on.

4. Build Something with Your Hands

Abigail and Fluffy spot a castle in the sand

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." (Nature)

We just talked about going on a journey in your head in the art museum. Well, this is the reverse. When you get caught too much in your head, make something simple. A meal, sketch, or maybe just whittle something. Nothing perfect. But for a while, you’re focused. The tactile engagement anchors you. Time compresses. You’re inside the process. This is that flow state that people talk about.

Remember how time works differently in Sparkle Valley? Same thing here. In today’s tech heavy world so many of us barely do more than type on a keyboard and live totally in our heads. But just build something—anything—and you'll be surprised.

I had a friend who was a theoretical physicist who would come home after working and cook a meal. He said it gave him satisfaction because he spent all day in his head and the conversation never ended. But in cooking a meal you get a final product (something he never got as a theoretical physicist) and instant physical feedback. Also, psychologically, it can give you confidence in your ability. That you do have agency.

For the Romantics the act of creating something with your hands was more than just therapeutic. It was the ultimate act of bringing your internal soul out into the real world. It was a form of magic where you took basically dead matter and you brought it to life through your human touch. It was about getting in touch with yourself—a way of walking through your mind and expressing the longing (Blue Flower) that was buried there.

5. Live in the Moment

Abigail reunites with Reggie in the Hide Away Cafe

Percy Bysshe Shelley

"We look before and after,

And pine for what is not:

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught;

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." ("To a Skylark")

Live in the moment, this is more of a state than it is an activity, but it perfectly captures the Romantic perspective. Wordsworth talked about “spots of time" in your life that stay with you. So in a sense you're not just living in the moment, you're actually capturing it. You feel it at such a deep level that it becomes part of your identity. It stays with you for years. (I spoke about the Mo Farrah race earlier.)

William Blake talked about this too. "He who binds to himself a joy / Does the winged life destroy; / But he who kisses the joy as it flies / Lives in eternity’s sun rise."

The Romantic moment is fleeting. You can't possess it or force it in any way because then you kill the magic. It's all about spontaneity, because that's where true living happens. In the unplanned, the spontaneous overflow. It's letting that moment happen, rather than trying to manage or manufacture it. That perhaps is the biggest take away here.

This all connects us back to the Blue Flower. Because although we (and the Romantics) are always longing for the infinite, we also know that all we have to work with is the small. Baby steps, little things. Micro moments. You can look at a leaf, the way the light hits it. You can see the entire universe in this little leaf. This is being present.

Keats said living in the moment is about being all right with not knowing what comes next. Interesting observation right, since prediction is the underlying foundation of today’s technology. It's all about the ability to exist in a mystery, rather than always reaching for logic and reason. That's what staying in the moment is about. And that’s what the Romantics nailed.