Red Lotus of Compassion ©2005 Michelle Basic Hendry

I have been so absorbed with getting the new website ready for launch and preparing new small paintings that I have had to remind myself what day it is. I took part of yesterday off to watch the inaugural ceremony for President Barack Obama on television and to rest after many late nights.

As a Canadian, watching this American ‘rebirth’ was both inspiring and exciting. Many people have commented that somehow everything just “felt” different since waking up Tuesday morning. There is a sense of peace and energy. Something has changed. There was a great pause… and the World exhaled as if it had been holding its breath for many years. Perhaps it has.

Getting back to work later this afternoon, I combed through my archives for reference photographs and I came across some old paintings I had done between four and five years ago during a mixed media phase. I think that synchronicity is a powerful thing and it certainly had a hand in my uncovering “Red Lotus of Compassion”. It felt very appropriate considering the events of the day. The ‘red lotus’ or the lotus of the Heart is an expression of compassion, passion, action and love.

So, I offer you, my readers, a red lotus…. Here is hoping that, together, we can build a brave new world.