“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller

The sunflower belongs to the genus Helianthus annuus, derived from the Greek helios meaning sun and annuus meaning annual. And while one might think this name derives from the fact that these flowers look a whole lot like the sun, it’s probably more related to their heliotropic behavior.

Their what??

Heliotropic behavior.

You see, while in the bud stage, the sunflower begins its morning facing east to greet the rising sun. Then, throughout the day, motor cells in its stem keep tilting the bud to receive the maximum amount of sunlight so that by the end of the day the sunflower is pointing west toward the sunset. Overnight, the sunflower resets itself to face east once again.

Fascinating, right?

And, as evidenced by Helen Keller’s quote above, we can use the sunflower’s intense focus on what’s important to it — the sun — to inspire us in our own lives.

After all, you have that exact same power.

You choose in each and every moment where to focus your thoughts and energy. You can focus toward the shadow with all it’s life-sucking, negative, disempowering thoughts and actions, or you can be like the sunflower and always focus toward the light and its positive, empowering thoughts and actions.

And to carry out those positive actions, you might just want to wear something beautiful like today’s VPOD.

This vintage Alfred Shaheen cocktail dress features a print reminiscent of Van Gogh’s famed sunflower work.

And it’s a lovely find for a vintage fashionista.

Available at Unique Boutique NYC.

(Sunflower Image Credit: Angelskiss31 on Flickr | To receive the VPOD via email along with detailed size, price and purchase information, sign up for my growing email mailing list here. Your information will never be sold or shared and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)