The Lotus Flower

I am not a religious person, and I never was.
(although I have been baptized so technically I am a Christian).

But I learned about Buddhism in school last year, and I think the Buddhist teachings are really inspiring.

For those of you who don't know, the lotus flower is an important symbol of Buddhism and represents purity and enlightenment.

It grows at the bottom of a murky pond, covered in mud. The stem struggling to find enough sunlight to grow and reach the air. The stem reaches out, forever hoping to get to the surface.

After growing like this for a while, it suddenly breaks through the layer of water, and it has reached it's goal. It opens out into a beautiful flower, a completely pure colour. There is no mud on the flower, no stains on the petals. It is pure.

It struggled through all the growth and is now a beautiful flower.

   

I think that really gives people hope. If they're in a difficult situation they can think back to the lotus flower and realize 'I can do this'. I think that's why I like all the symbolism behind it. It is so encouraging.

Sorry about this weirdly religious random post. I will get back to the normal ones tomorrow ;)

One end and one beginning

A teacher from my school dies yesterday. Yesterday. It's so hard to believe that a life could be ended over a weekend. So weird that you've seen a teacher walking around the school just the week before with apparently nothing wrong with her, and you come back on Monday and she's dead. Last week. (her last week anyway).
I was never taught by her, but it is still so hard to get over. I just can't quite believe it. She never got to say goodbye to her family and friends. She never got married and had kids. She probably never completed her bucket list. It kind of made me realize that there are things I need to do before I die. And I need to be grateful for what I have.
Yes it sounds cheesy, but it needs to be said.
It was remembrance Sunday yesterday too, and I remembered all the poor soldiers who have lost their lives. I think it's so sad that these people died because of man fighting one another.
It all really made me think.
So, I'm starting this blog.
I know I write loads of blogs, but I feel this one may be that something special... we'll see anyway.
This blog will be full of posts about my life, and life in general. Things I've done and things I hope to do. Things I think should be said, and things I think full stop. Funny things, creative things, amazing things. You get the picture.
So sorry to start this blog with a miserable post, but I hope you now understand the meaning of this blog. [don't worry- there will be lots of wit and humor in this blog too!]

Picture from here.