The “Why” Behind My Business

When coming up with names for my business, I was completely lost. Where do you even start with something like that? I think I had about 4 usernames on Instagram before I decided on the one I have now. Indecision was my middle name. And it still is, if we’re being honest.

I knew I wanted my business name to have meaning, though. I wanted a story. So the hunt for symbolism and a story started off like most hunts do in this day and age, with a Google search.

Like I said, I was completely lost.

I don’t consider myself a plant mom by any means. I love the idea of plants, but plants do not tend to love the idea of me… which is why they typically die while under my care. But have you ever looked up names of some of the plants that exist? There are so. many. And SO many of them have such charming names! Names like thimbleweed, toadflax, azalea, and something called the flying duck orchid.

As I was scrolling, clicking, and rephrasing my search query, I came across the word clover.

And honestly? It didn’t sound all that appealing in the moment. I immediately thought of a 4-leaf clover. I didn’t want my business to have a story based around the idea that 4-leaf clovers bring good luck. I needed more than that.

So I kept searching. Then I came across the red clover flower.

The red clover increases soil fertility, helping plants grow. But it also was historically used if you had asthma, a cough, menopause symptoms, or even certain types of cancer.

I know that a lot of plants have medicinal benefits (whether fully proven or not), but for some reason the red clover stuck out to me the most. It promotes healing, which is so much of my story with art.

And then it hit me. I want a story of healing and hope.

Ever since I was about 19 years old, healing has been a recurring theme in my life. I specifically remember a time I was sitting on a bench with a friend on the boardwalk next to Ocean City beach. I was going through a really difficult time, and needed to know how to continue through it.

She told me about a key moment in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of several books in The Chronicles of Narnia series.

There was a boy named Eustace who was self-centered, quick-tempered, and sucked the joy out of everyone around him. One day he discovered a massive pile of treasure in a cave. By inheriting it, he thought he could seek revenge on everyone who has or ever will wrong him.

Basking in his newfound riches, he fell asleep on top of the treasure. When he wakes up, he finds that he has been turned into a dragon. Horrified, Eustace realizes he cannot go back to the crew nor the ship they sailed in. He will live out his days as a monster, with a treasure that is now entirely useless to him.

Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, finds his way to Eustace and tells him to go to the water nearby and start scratching the scales off of his body. But the more he scratches off, the more dragon skin he sees underneath, and he begins to lose hope.

With nearly all stories of healing, a third party often has to step in and guide us through it. Aslan takes on that role for Eustace by tearing off his skin and scales for him. This process is even more painful than when he was doing it himself. It was a pain he had never experienced before.

After just a few scratches As the scales came off, Aslan threw him into the water… and Eustace was a boy again.

My friend had finished sharing this story, and I found myself sobbing in the middle of the busy boardwalk in Ocean City. I was Eustace. I needed healing desperately, after feeling hopeless for so long.

That’s why the symbolism of the red clover was so alluring to me. Not because I was putting my hope in a flower, but because of the way it was used to heal people. I will never claim that I have the ability to heal people, and I think it’s also bold to claim that something like a red clover could heal you.

But… I do think you can experience a lot of healing benefits through therapeutic art. I have seen it happen to others and have experienced it myself. And if you have wanted to see how art could be therapeutic for you, you can start right now by downloading my free therapeutic art prompts.

Thanks for being here, and for being part of this story. You play an integral part in this with all your support. I’d love to hear if you resonated with any my story, and want to hear yours too. Comment below or send me a message on Instagram and say hi!