Years ago I took a class of Ikebana: the art of flower arranging. Specifically, the "Sogetsu" school which says that Ikebana can be done anywhere, by anyone and with any materials.

You might ask what's the big deal with that? Well, hundreds of years ago in Japan where Ikebana originated, flower arranging was only deemed worthy to be done by the noble and monks with very rigid and strict rules.

I love Ikebana. It actually reminds me of marketing. I'll be blogging on the connection between Ikebana and marketing in a future post. Stay tuned.

You see, there are principles to assist in structuring the arrangement but there is flexibility. What I especially appreciate is it requires very little materials: a branch or two, a few stems of flowers and a simple vase.

The long branch is Shin which represents heaven, the middle branch is Soe which is earth and the flowers are Hikae: man.

Here's the final piece. What do you think?