One summer, the rain did not come. The streams slowed, and the air thickened. Passerby’s worried for the Lotus; they built a channel to bring water from the hills to the pond below. The water came trickling in clear, cold, and full of mountain spirit. And in it, drifting upon a twig, was a single Wildflower seed.
By Vincent Enso
In a quiet park, nestled between mountains that touched the clouds and rivers that whispered to the stones, there bloomed two flowers far apart, yet destined.
The Lotus lived in still waters, rising from the mud each morning to greet the sun. He was graceful, serene, and rooted in compassion.
The wildflower, on the other hand, grew on the wind swept hill beyond the temple walls. She was untamed, blooming where she pleased, sometimes in the cracks of stones sometimes along the edge of a cliff. Her colors changed with he seasons, and laughter could be heard in the rustle of tall grass.
They had never met.
One summer, the rain did not come. The streams slowed, and the air thickened. Passerby’s worried for the Lotus; they built a channel to bring water from the hills to the pond below. The water came trickling in clear, cold, and full of mountain spirit. And in it, drifting upon a twig, was a single Wildflower seed.
The seed settled near the edge of the Lotus pond. And there, against all rules of the world, the Wildflower grew.
“You’re out of place,” said the Lotus, with a voice calm as a temple bell.
“And you are too still,” replied the Wildflower, bending toward him with a crooked grin.
Each day, they spoke. He told stories of windstorms and the dance of bees, of how the sun feels when it scorches your leaves and how freedom tastes when you don’t know where you’ll grow. She shared the mysteries of deep roots, of silence that speaks louder than sound, of how patience opens the heart like a flower unfolding at dawn.
Others noticed. They saw the Lotus laugh more. They saw petals tremble not from wind, but from joy.
Seasons passed.
One morning, the Wildflower drooped.
“My stem was not meant for water,” she said. “This peace is beautiful, but it is not my home.”
The Lotus remained still.
“Will you go?”
“I must. Wild things cannot stay in one place too long. But I will carry your stillness in my heart, as you have carried my chaos in yours.”
The next day, the wildflower was gone. A trail of petals led up the hill. The Lotus stood taller than he ever had, with roots deeper, and silence fuller. And once a year, in late summer, a single petal would float down from the hill and land on the pond wild in color, and free in spirit.
The season of union and compassion.
The Lotus smiled, to bloom never quite the same again.
*****
This story was written mindfully in a present moment during a difficult relationship. It was during time when love attachment, compassion and the painful realization that two people can care deeply for one another while still growing in different directions, were being held at once.
The Lotus and the Wildflower became a way of understanding that tension. In the spirit of the story, it becomes an exploration of the imperfect circle of love. It is how we meet, and how we change one another. How we sometimes have to let go and that separation doesn’t mean failure.
Sometimes a person enters our life not to stay forever but to leave a seed.
It leaves a little more compassion, a little more understanding, a little more stillness, It is a reminder of who we are becoming. Perhaps that is where this story can meet others. We all have relationships, seasons and chapters that do not unfold as we had imagined. The invitation is not to label them as failures, but to sit with them mindfully and to recognize what they taught, what they awakened, and what we can carry forward without carrying the suffering with us.
The Lotus and the Wildflower is ultimately a story about love without possession, compassion without attachment and wisdom to allow us to change.
Vincent Enso is a tattooer and artist currently residing in Boise, Idaho. A lifelong maker and student of the tattoo tradition, his work is rooted in the belief that tattooing can be more than decoration—it can be ritual, expression, connection, and a way of making meaning from the lives we live. For the past six or seven years, Vincent has also been a student and practitioner of Buddhism and the Dharma, exploring mindfulness, compassion, equanimity, and the Eightfold Path both on and off the tattoo table. His practice is an ongoing attempt to bring art and Dharma together: to create with intention, to meet people with compassion, and to remember that every person carries a story worth honoring. You can see more @luminous_torma @vinnietatts
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be protected
May you be at ease
Photo: Pixabay
Editor: Dana Gornall
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