What’s in a name?

Lotus Rainier, literally and figuratively, means you can always find beauty in any adversity. 

Lotuses are blooms you will find in swampy and murky waters. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing to the eyes; they also symbolize purity of the heart and mind, as well as good health and long life, honor and luck. 

When these lotus flowers grow, they rise above the muddy waters. They provide such a contrast that many photographers study them with diligence. I live with one, diligently capturing images of lotuses.

As for Mount Rainier, it is a place that captured me when my husband and I went camping and hiking. I watched a group of hikers get ready to summit this snowcapped mountain in Washington state. I was terrified for them, but these were US soldiers being trained by a mountaineering doctor who has saved many lives of stranded folks climbing mountains, including Mt. Everest. They were there to dispose of their “emotional baggage” and to find they have exceeded their mental and physical barriers.

As we hiked towards Mount Rainier, I noticed multi-colored wildflowers about to bloom, getting ready for spring. Picture this palette of colors against a snow capped majestic mountain and all you can say is “Hallelujah!”.

In a similar manner, this is how this website came to life: with the tenacity and diligence of the digital artists who refuse to succumb to fear of the Coronavirus pandemic, Ira and Hydee Ursolino chose to create with love. Daily, we kept tabs with one another until I completed 50 posts.

In addition to my recent posts, this website also houses my work for the Asian Journal, where for almost 12 years, I wrote and sustained my column “Rhizomes” which are also blooms that arise from any substrate – soil, clay, wood chips – much like Filipinos, spread all over the world, in the diaspora. Thank you so much for helping me get these articles to their current state: readable. For any detectable mistakes, I take responsibility for them.

I hope you enjoy reading them as I wanted a repository of my written words, my thoughts, and my reflections for my granddaughter to read, long after I am gone. May she always remember what “Lotus Rainier” stands for.