The "Lotus Flower Charm" is beautiful and meaningful to me. I have had many professions over my lifetime of 70 years. To name a few, I have been an RN, Social Worker, Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, massage therapist, and artist. But what I have found to be most helpful in my growth has been to become a Yogi. As many know, Yoga is the practice of eight limbs--not just doing positions and breathing--though as equally important as the other six limbs such as the Yamas and Niyamas.
Living life can be difficult but becoming a Yogi has meant that I have developed a path--a path that I can symbolize in the eight-petaled lotus. We grow through the mud and into the beautiful lotus flower. Yoga, on the other hand, is a process of balancing our mind, body, and spirit within ourselves and within the community and nature. This lotus flower, for me, is the symbolization of the Yogic process practice throughout my later years in life. I wanted to wear a "lotus" charm to remind me of the work I am doing.
I looked at many sites trying to find "just the right lotus" that represented my work. I saw many 'cut-outs,' shiny and 'perfect' ones, cheap ones, but none spoke to me like the "Lotus Flower Charm" from Helen Ficalora. To me, her lotus charm evoked a feeling of a "textured living." It evoked a life made by my hands, mind, and spirit, and it had the eight petals representing the Eight Limbs of Yoga which is my path. My path has certainly been "textured" with real-life living consistently made up of choices and consequences that I have made. (I am definitely not a cut-out!) The charm itself--the producing of it--seemed to have also come from a person who had also lived a "textured life." It seemed a perfect choice.
The charm, even as I touch it this minute, reminds me of the mud and the beauty of my life. And it has a simple warmth of texture as well as a simple beauty that resonates profoundly through me.
Thank you Helen Ficalora for your beautiful creation. I wear this "Lotus Flower Charm" with a sense of integrity and grace. I am grateful for the life you are...
Mayetta