[Quote Quest] Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans Christian Anderson

I loved this quote when I saw it as a future inclusion in Quote Quest, and immediately I knew exactly the type of post I could write on it, since the quote seemed to fit the way I am rather well.

I’m not going to delve deep into the origins of the quote and I’m just going to be writing based on the quote as it is here on it’s own.

Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “

Life is not about just living, but about getting more out of it, and there are lots of people who will want more from their own lives like I do myself.

I may be somewhat shy, quiet, not as sociable or overly confident IRL and therefore it may seem like I’m just going through an Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat existence which I’m not.
I want to live my life to the fullest, or at least as much as I can

one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Sunshine

Not only do I see the sunshine in the literal sense as a sunny day, as I love sunny days where a warmth and general happiness can be found when enjoying the weather, but I also see it as the happiness around me.
This happiness may be from people I interact with, whether it be those at work, friends or people online allowing me to enjoy conversations with them, and in the case of work sometimes having a fun shift.

Not everything I can control, but I know the happiness can be there and in my current job it keeps me going even when the going gets tough.

Freedom

With freedom it’s not always about doing whatever I want to do, but knowing that I have the option to do what I want.

For example when I have shorter days/weeks at work, especially in the summer when we have the odd sunny say, I love the freedom of being able to just go home and relax or walk about town grabbing some lunch and maybe a coffee as I sit in the park a minute from work looking up at the magnificent castle as I relax.

I love the freedom writing gives me, and with posts like Quote Quest I can just sit here and write to my heart’s desire. I don’t always have to plan ahead and can just put down in words what comes to me until I’m satisfied.

Finally the freedom to explore who I am is something I get great pleasure from.
Like I said at the beginning I’m shy, quiet and not overly confident, but over the last 10 years I’ve done a lot change this even if just in the way I see myself and a few others see me. From getting tattoos, bungee jumping & bridge swing, exploring my sexuality mentally and physically with guys, using toys and lots more amongst other such things.
I had the freedom to explore all of the above and I did, some of it as soon as the chance arose or some of it years after my first bit of interest.

Little Flower

I see the little flower as not necessarily a flower but rather the things in my life that bring me happiness and joy. As above this might be getting a tattoo, doing adventurous things or finding who I am, but it can also be the other hobbies/interests I have like building computers and playing with new tech, attending live events/gigs (Rock and metal mainly) or even just the entertainment I get from YouTube subscriptions.
When life is good, or when life may not be going so well, it’s these little flowers that keep me going.

Others may in fact like flowers, gardening, nature or many different things compared to what I like, but at the end of the day we all need something (Little flowers) to bring us happiness.

Summary

To summarise, I feel like living in an Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat existence is like going through motions of life and no matter how big or small it may be, we should be doing more in our lives.

We should be enjoying the freedom to do whatever we want, whatever gives us joy in life and enjoy the little flowers that may accompany said freedom.

• Meme participation
• Quote Quest.