The Lotus

Photos are Jennifer’s originals, not AI generated. These were taken while managing her photography business VividMe.com

🌸 The story begins in the mire. The lotus seed is buried deep in the mud at the bottom of a pond, where the water is murky, dark, and full of decay. There, unseen and often forgotten, it begins its journey. The conditions seem harsh—mud and still water don’t look like the birthplace of something extraordinary. But hidden within the muck is the nourishment that sustains its growth.

Slowly, it pushes upward, straining through the heavy waters, reaching toward the light it cannot yet see. Its journey is long, and at times it seems as though it will never break the surface. The stalk bends, currents tug, yet it persists.

Then, one day, the tip of the bud breaks through the surface. It meets the air, the warmth of the sun. And instead of carrying the mud with it, the lotus unfolds into a pure blossom, radiant and unstained. Its petals rest on the water’s surface as if they had never known the weight of the mire.

That is the paradox and power of the lotus: it grows from the mud, but it is not defined by the mud.

How it applies to life:

• The mud is our trauma, hardship, grief, and the brokenness we endure. It’s the heaviness we’d rather escape but that, in truth, holds the nutrients of growth. Without it, the lotus would never bloom. Without struggle, we’d never awaken to our own resilience.

• The water is the in-between—our messy seasons of healing. We rise, often unseen, often doubting, but still moving toward something greater.

• The surface is awakening. It is that moment when we begin to see glimpses of light and possibility again, even if we’re still tender and fragile.

• The bloom is beauty born of survival. Not beauty in spite of the darkness, but beauty because of it. The mud gave way to petals. The weight became wings.

The lotus reminds us: You are not the mire you came from. You are the bloom that rose out of it.

Every life touched by darkness has within it the same possibility—to rise, to unfold, to radiate something untainted, even after the deepest sorrow.

🌸 The Lotus was a special symbol in my daughter’s life. This post in in her honor and remembrance. 🌸.

🌸~Elizabeth Hayes ♥️1995-2017💔

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