Of Flowers, Care, and the Essentials of Life

Ok, summer is here. I have started to paint flowers again.

For a long time, I held the belief that art and life should transcend mere pleasure; they ought to carry profound meaning or heavy philosophical weight. But my perspective has shifted. Now, I prefer to take things as they are—to simply look at the flowers, observing their progression from flourish to fade, a process that is both beautiful and crude. It leaves me with a simple question: why not paint flowers?

This return to the tangible and immediate world feels particularly vital today. AI does not replace human care and love, nor does it substitute for the bonds and mutual support within families. In a world increasingly mediated by technology, it is these unfiltered, deeply human connections that sustain us.

Likewise, by learning to look at the world around us without the urge to quantify or justify its utility, the relationship between humans and nature may cease to be an exploitative one—a systemic dynamic that has long been fueled by capitalist consumer culture.

Painting a flower is, in itself, an act of paying attention. It is a small but conscious step away from consumerist exploitation and toward a quiet, rational appreciation of existence.