“If roses are about love...”
“If roses are about love, public service is about service to the people, said Gauteng Premier David Makhura
Noting that 2018 will mark the centenary of the birth of the late Nelson Mandela, a man of peace, the UN General Assembly has decided to convene a high-level plenary meeting to be known as the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit on 24 September 2018 at UN Headquarters in New York, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 72/243.
In celebration of Mandela’s 100th birthday we at Bloom asked ourselves, how can we relate his philosophy and values to our society and how is it still relevant today? We came to the conclusion that now more than ever, we need to understand the significance of his services and morals and adapt them into our daily lives.
Peace. What a massive and complex concept! A huge term that can be interpreted in so many different ways. What does it really mean? ...freedom from war and violence, freedom from disturbance, hatred, suffering, fear, judgement, power, and basically anything negative to humanity. In general, peace is an ideal concept of harmonious well-being. It is a word, a concept, and hope desired by almost everyone on the planet.
However, what’s often forgotten is that peace starts with each individual first and foremost. You cannot “give” the world peace if not already within you. It can only be achieved if everyone is mindful of it and actively practicing it. Whether that means to be a mediator between different nations, generations, or groups. Whether it means to help a neighbor, gift a stranger with a smile, or a flower. We think there is so much potential to enhance our day-to-day experiences and eventually make our environments more peaceful and a better place for everyone. We continue to fight through wars and struggle to overcome inequality and oppression in regards to race, gender, sexuality, and social status. Let’s build on that and move forward. Peace is a mutual state of mindfulness between each and every one of us.
We strongly feel that Bloom’s mission is to celebrate beauty, love, and, yes, peace. Bloom believes that if you can create a harmonious environment and mindset for yourself and others, peace and contentment is attainable.
Foundation CE Sello Hatang said the Nelson Mandela 100 program centers on the values embodied by Mandela, of resilience, service and care. The values of service and care appeared to be diminishing in contemporary South Africa, but he hoped the Nelson Mandela rose would serve as a reminder “that we are because of others”.
In the words of Mandela: “People respond in accordance to how you relate to them. If you approach them on the basis of violence, that’s how they’ll react. But if you say, “We want peace, we want stability,” we can then do a lot of things that will contribute towards the progress of our society.”
In one of the first events in this year-long celebration of the centenary of Mandela’s birth, a rose named after him was launched in Johannesburg on in February.
With this in mind, Bloom would like to make an offering of peace in the words of a rose to the first one hundred people coming into our store this week commenting on our Instagram in the comment section.
“We are because of others!”
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