Astrid from Wildflowers

In a small shop in Charlottenlund, where golden letters spell “Wildflowers” across the window and the pavement outside is lined with buckets full of sunflowers and hydrangeas, Astrid spends her days with her hands full of flowers. She is 27 years old, and a year ago, she took over the shop.

We recently spoke to Astrid about calm. Not the kind of calm you find by switching off and sitting down. But the kind of calm that, somewhat surprisingly, can arise in the middle of an everyday life where everything depends on you, and where there is always another bouquet to be tied.

»I’ve always found it a little difficult to find the right place for myself«

Astrid had been working at Wildflowers for just over a year when the opportunity to take over the shop suddenly arose. She knew the place, knew the rhythm, knew the customers. But the leap from employee to sole owner is still something entirely different.

"It’s really something completely different to suddenly be responsible for your own business and know that everything depends on you."

But she also knew that it was an opportunity that might not come again. And her gut feeling was clear. She would regret it if she said no.

"I found a sense of calm in the decision to take over the shop and take on the responsibility myself quite quickly," she says. Not afterwards, when everything had fallen into place, but in the decision itself.

"I’ve always found it a little difficult to find the right place for myself," she says about the time before Wildflowers became her own. "But I feel that I’ve found it now, and I’m very, very grateful for my everyday life today."

Perhaps that is precisely the part of Astrid’s story that deserves to stay with us a little longer. That calm is not always found in what is safe and familiar. Sometimes it arises when we dare to say yes to what feels right, even though we don’t have all the answers yet. That was how it was for Astrid. She took a leap into something new without knowing exactly how to run a business like this, but with the belief that the practical things would work themselves out along the way.

Today, the shop is much more than a workplace for Astrid. It is her own place. A place where she gets to be creative every single day and create something with her hands. And perhaps that is precisely the heart of her calm. Not the absence of responsibility, but the presence of meaning.

Calm is about being able to stop looking ahead

When asked what inner calm means to her today, Astrid answers: being able to be present.

"For me, inner calm is very much about being able to be present and not constantly thinking about the next thing that needs to be done."

It is this definition of calm that resonates with her the most. Not calm as a break from everyday life, but as an absence of the constant looking ahead. Towards the next order, the next task, the next thing waiting to be done.

"I find a lot of calm in simple things like going outside, moving my body and spending time with people I care about," she says. "It helps me switch off and reminds me that there needs to be room to simply be."

For Astrid, calm is not about reaching a place where everything is quiet. It is about being able to stop looking ahead. And staying with what is already here.

What flowers can say without saying anything

The same attentiveness and ability to be present in what she does shines through when Astrid talks about her craft.

"I hope you can feel that time and thought have gone into every single stem, and that the flowers can help create a feeling or a memory," she says.

It is a kind of care the customer does not necessarily see, but may still feel when the bouquet is handed over. For Astrid, there is something special in the time and thought she puts into each bouquet before it leaves the shop. And perhaps there is something in that which reaches far beyond flowers. That calm can also be found in the way we do things. When we take care and put thought into what we have in our hands. Whether it is a bouquet or something bigger in life.

One last thing we had to know about Astrid

When you speak to someone who spends her days surrounded by flowers, there is one question you can hardly resist asking: Astrid, what is your favourite flower?

And the answer came without hesitation: “Cosmos. Because it is the flower I imagine having in my bridal bouquet one day.”

And speaking of bridal bouquets. We were lucky enough to have Astrid create the bouquet for our own bridal shoot, where we photographed our engagement rings, wedding rings and bridal jewellery. Come behind the scenes of our shoot here.

If you’re looking for fresh flowers, we can recommend a visit to Astrid’s beautiful flower shop at Lindegårdsvej 41 in Charlottenlund. You’ll recognise it by the golden letters on the window and the many buckets of flowers outside. If you live further away, you can also order her flowers online with delivery. Follow the entire floral universe at @wildflowerscph.

Thank you to Astrid for sharing her thoughts with us. A story about finding your place and about the calm that can arise when we give our full attention to what we have in our hands.

Your contribution

We have always known that Ro Copenhagen is about more than jewellery. It is also about the feelings and stories surrounding them.

In our article series Ro Women, we explore the meaning of calm through inspiring women we look up to. And the answers are rarely the same.

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