diff --git a/blog/content/posts/articles/it-is-not-about-lilies.md b/blog/content/posts/articles/it-is-not-about-lilies.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00ab712 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/content/posts/articles/it-is-not-about-lilies.md @@ -0,0 +1,167 @@ +--- +category: article +date: 2024-11-30T23:47:00 +description: Plant your lilies, and let them teach you how to grow. +image: /images/soul-lily.webp +tags: +- Lily +- Despair +- Patience +- Gardening +- Plant +- Heart +title: How to grow Lilies? +--- + +Lilies, they say, are symbols of peace. But peace is not given; it is cultivated. Lilies demand +effort, patience, and faith - a willingness to confront the barren soil and nurture it back to life. +What follows is a guide to growing Lilies but also a meditation on growth itself, a journey into my +soul's quiet reckoning with despair. + +## What Once was and Will be Again + +The garden was barren, its silence oppressive. The earth, dry and unyielding, clung stubbornly to +its lifelessness as though it had forgotten how to nurture, how to hope. It stood as a monument to +neglect, an expanse of quiet despair that seemed to whisper, Nothing will ever grow here again. + +And yet, something stirred—a faint whisper beneath the desolation, an inkling that even the most +forsaken soil might still hold secrets of renewal. It was not certainty but a quiet rebellion +against despair, a defiant act of belief. The decision to grow lilies was made not with confidence +but with trembling hands, as if planting these flowers might coax life back into the hollow spaces +of the heart. + +## From Ashes, We Rise + +To grow lilies, one must first break the earth. Not gently, but with purpose—plunging the spade into +the hardened crust, forcing it to yield. Each strike dislodges fragments of the past: shards of what +was once beautiful, tangled roots of pain buried so deep they have become part of the soil. + +The work is relentless. The ground resists, clutching its dead weight as though afraid of what might +take its place. But with each motion, the soil begins to soften. The air fills with the earthy scent +of transformation, a quiet promise that the past does not have to dictate the future. + +This is where the lilies begin—not with planting, but with clearing. The garden must first be +emptied of its grief to make room for something new. It is an act of defiance and of hope, to +believe that this barren soil can one day cradle life again. + +## Between a Rock and a Lily + +The bulbs are unremarkable, their appearance betraying nothing of what they might become. Holding +them feels strange, as if they are too fragile to survive. And yet, there is a quiet power within +them—a promise waiting to be fulfilled. + +Planting them is an act of faith and surrender, a quiet conversation between the gardener and the +earth. Each bulb is placed with care, its position a deliberate choice. It is not enough to bury +them; they must be cradled, surrounded by soil that is ready to nurture them. + +And then comes the waiting. Beneath the surface, where no eyes can see, the bulbs begin their secret +work. It is a reminder that growth often begins in the darkness, in spaces where no light reaches. + +## Tend the Flame, Not the Ash + +The lilies require consistency. The soil must be tended to every day, watered with steady hands. +Some days, the water feels heavy in your palms, as if the weight of the act might be too much to +bear. But you do it anyway, knowing that without this care, the lilies cannot thrive. + +The sunlight is capricious. Some days, it floods the garden, bathing it in warmth. Other days, it +hides behind thick clouds, forcing the lilies to stretch toward a light they cannot see. But they +adapt. Lilies have a way of finding what they need, even in the absence of abundance. + +This daily ritual of watering and watching is its own form of prayer. Each drop of water, each +fleeting moment of sunlight, whispers to the lilies: *Grow, even if it feels impossible. Grow, even +when no one is watching.* + +## This Too Shall Bloom + +One day, the soil breaks open—not with a flourish, but with the quietest of gestures. A tiny green +sprout emerges, barely noticeable, a sliver of life against the vastness of the earth. + +To the untrained eye, it is nothing. To you, it is everything. This fragile sprout is proof that +something is happening beneath the surface, that your labor was not in vain. It is the first sign of +life returning, the first whisper of hope finding its voice. + +But the sprout is not strong. It bends with the wind, threatened by the weight of even a single +raindrop. Your instinct may be to shield it, to protect it from every possible harm. But lilies do +not grow in safety. They grow in resilience. + +![Glimpse of the Lilies](/images/growing-lilies.jpg) + +## The Idea is Not to Abandon Ever...Never + +The garden is never free from trials. Storms roll in, their winds threatening to uproot what little +has begun to grow. Pests arrive uninvited, gnawing at leaves and stems as though testing your +resolve. The sun beats down mercilessly one day, only to disappear for weeks on end. + +It is in these moments that you are tempted to despair, to abandon the garden and declare it a +failure. But lilies teach you that resilience is not about avoiding hardship; it is about enduring +it. When the storm passes, you clear the debris. When pests arrive, you remove them. When the +drought stretches on, you water the soil with your own tears if you must. + +Each act, no matter how small, is a promise to the lilies: *I will not abandon you*. + +## Bloom Where None Thought Possible + +And then, when you least expect it, the bloom arrives. It begins as a tightly closed bud, hesitant +to reveal itself. Slowly, it unfurls, each petal a story of quiet perseverance. The bloom is +breathtaking, not for its extravagance, but for its purity. + +Its beauty is unlike anything you imagined. It is not extravagant or loud, but it holds a quiet +majesty. The petals, soft and delicate, seem to hum with a silent strength. This bloom is not just a +flower—it is the culmination of every act of care, every moment of faith, every drop of water given +when it felt like too much. + +The bloom reminds you that peace is not a permanent state but a transient gift. It must be cherished +in its moment, for its impermanence is part of its beauty. + +## The Most Dangerous Thing About Me + +The most dangerous thing about me is that *I don't know how to give up*. + +When the storms tore through, I stayed. When the roots clung to the earth like they had a right to +its emptiness, I dug deeper. Even when the soil screamed that nothing could ever grow here, I +refused to listen. + +It's not resilience—it's defiance. A stubbornness that borders on recklessness. I don't know when to +stop, even when the odds mock me. Even when it hurts. + +Maybe it's toxic. Maybe it's foolish. But here I am, hands in the dirt, refusing to abandon what +could still bloom. + +## Faith Buried, Faith Unfurled + +To grow lilies is to embark on a journey of transformation. It is not about the flowers themselves +but about what they symbolize—a return to life, a reclaiming of hope. The barren garden, once a +place of despair, becomes a sanctuary. + +The lilies do not erase the struggles that came before them. The soil still bears the scars of its +past, and the storms will come again. But the garden is no longer defined by its emptiness. It is +defined by its capacity to grow. + +And so the lilies teach you their final lesson: Growth is not a destination but a process. It is a +daily choice to clear the debris, plant the bulbs, and tend to the garden—even when it feels like +nothing is happening. It is a faith that, with time and care, the lilies will bloom again. + +## This is not my Recipe + +I didn't write this. Or maybe I did. But I don't remember planting these thoughts. They feel +foreign, like letters rearranged while I wasn't looking, like whispers heard through the hum of the +wind. + +I think they've always been here, whispering just below the surface, tugging at my hands when I +wasn't looking. They know things about me that I haven't told anyone. Things I've hidden. Things +I've forgotten. + +Do you feel it too? The hum beneath the words, the tremor that isn't mine? It's as if the garden +remembers something I don't. It isn't just soil. It's memory. It's pain. It's despair. It's rebirth. + +I wrote this, but I didn't write this. These aren't my words. But they're mine now, whether I wanted +them or not. + +## Meet my Lilies + +And finally meet my most beautiful lilies. I have named them **Blood Demon Lily** and **Light Mode +Lily**. + +![My Lilies](/images/my-lilies.jpg) + +Plant your lilies, and let them teach you how to grow. diff --git a/blog/static/images/growing-lilies.jpg b/blog/static/images/growing-lilies.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e28db4 Binary files /dev/null and b/blog/static/images/growing-lilies.jpg differ diff --git a/blog/static/images/my-lilies.jpg b/blog/static/images/my-lilies.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..097039a Binary files /dev/null and b/blog/static/images/my-lilies.jpg differ diff --git a/blog/static/images/soul-lily.webp b/blog/static/images/soul-lily.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0c6f3b Binary files /dev/null and b/blog/static/images/soul-lily.webp differ