The Lotus

I've always loved the Lotus flower.  Aside from being incredibly unique and breathtakingly beautiful, it's a flower that holds such a great deal of meaning and symbolism behind it, it's hard not to be fascinated by the thing.  It grows in dirty water, swamps, and bogs, and yet produces a product so magnificent, you would think it was rooted their purposefully.  Growing through mud, it always comes out unstained.

In Buddhism, the Lotus represents Nirvana - the time when the Lotus blooms out of the dirty water, is the time a person has reached their full potential, and are ready for rebirth and reincarnation. It is this reason that often times, Buddha is depicted as sitting on, or coming out of, a Lotus flower.  This shows how he was able to surpass the pain of multiple reincarnations through the "material" world, and reach Nirvana.  Purity of body, speech, and mind.

In Egyptian and Hindu mythology, the Lotus is compared to the sun - the flower closes and hides beneath the water at night, and then rises and reopens at dawn.  It is for this reason the flower is often associated with Atom, the sun God, who, along with the sun itself, represents reincarnation as well - rising, shining, setting into darkness, and repeating - just like life.  Divine beauty.

Asian traditions view the Lotus as sexual purity and non-attachment. 

The Lotus can be used to represent change, enlightenment, rebirth, and new beginnings, as well as strength, and heart.  The various colors also each represent something different, but that would take hours.

Last night, my Dad and Step-mom gave me a necklace with a Lotus pendant on it, and with extremely great reason.  This is my rebirth, and my new beginning.  I've always been slightly afraid of major changes, and it's time for me to not only accept it, but embrace it.  This necklace reminds me of that.  I need to bring light back into my heart, and take in all the things happening around me.  I'm really happy they reminded me of why I'm really here, and of why I always wanted to be here.  I think it's easy to forget - with bills, and working, and living, and trying to budget and pay rent, have enough money for food and transportation - I've just spent too much time worrying.  Everything happens for a reason, and things work out they way they should, just not always in the way you expected, and I need to understand that, and be more flexible.  The past year or so has gotten me so clenched up and closed off, and that's not who I am.  I'm free spirited, adventurous, serious but fun, responsible but impulsive - and I need to get that back, let go, and fly.