Do you find yourself blaming the people around you, your environment, your lack of money etc. for your misery?

You might find an ally in the symbol of the LOTUS flower. The lotus is also very connected to the feminine qualities of nature and the ancient Egyptians referred to the Lotus as being the one of the first life forms to emerge from the abyss, who they referred to as NUN

If you are ready for a change follow me on a little journey towards a new beginning.

Whilst you’re blindly wallowing around in the murky depths of your life, imagine reaching out for something that feels like a thick soft stem. Yes that’s it! It’s beginning to move, pulling you upwards. Now hold on tight with all your might. Soon is will be dawn. Up you will swim through the black mud, towards the light above the surface. You break free and gasp for breath. Stop! I know you are excited but don’t swim for shore just yet, take another breath, a longer, deeper one this time.

Observe that attached to the life line that you still cling to is a ball of soft petals. She is unfurling to reveal her true inner beauty. You expected her to be covered in shit but no, she is magnificent in her pure white naked self. She turns away from you and tenderly stretches up to greet her lover, the sun, basking in his warmth.

What do you feel? Is this jealousy ? Is it sorrow or fear? Bowing your head, you begin to sink back to your place of stinking comfort.

But wait! What is this? As you sink you catch a glimpse of yourself.

Your hand is not a hand, your body is not your body. You are made of the same fabric as the flower. You are one and the same, magnificent and yet devoid of ego. You are now aware that you will return to the depths again, as sure as the sun will set. But now that you have witnessed your true nature you feel more resilient against the influence of the mud below.

The beauty of the Lotus flower remains intact untouched by the often putrid waters from which it emerges.

Remaining whole and centred despite the condition of our environment.

Life goes on….

The Egyptian white Lotus flower rises above the surface of the water each day at dawn to greet the sun, it returns to the murky depths below the surface at dusk.

Moving gracefully through the cycles of life- Birth, death & rebirth.

These are the qualities I think of when asked about the symbol of the Lotus.

I was pondering my role as a mother and my close bond with my son and I realised that this first experience of letting go is just the beginning of a lifetime of little ‘letting go’s’. I thought I could use some help so I went in search of a symbol or ceremony to remind me of the importance of being able to ‘let go’.

I found a Thai Buddhist ceremony which occurs once a year on the full moon of the twelfth month of their lunar calender. Amazingly the Loy Krathong (Loy meaning to “float” and Kratong is the Thai word for a sort of raft or boat) was celebrated in Thailand last night.

The people make the little Lotus shaped rafts made of banana leaves, decorate them with flowers, incense and candles, and release them to float away on a river’s surface. The ceremony serves as a way of ‘letting go’ of negative aspects of oneself or negativities in life and inviting good luck.

I am adapting this idea for my own purpose by releasing a boat as a symbol not of releasing negativity but as a symbol of my acknowledgement of my son’s independent path.

Loy Krathong Away http://www.flickr.com/photos/enda/290935555/