Lotus collection Archives

The blooming of a lotus flower

February 15, 2020 by Steven Pauwels Leave a Comment

Down, at the bottom of the waters, is where the lotus roots. It is only by rooting in the mud, that the lotus makes her way to the light.

Slowly the lotus ventures through the waters, rising to the surfaces and settles on top of the water. By early morning till afternoon, the hoovering lotus opens its petals, and so, the lotus flower blossoms.

The muddy ground represents our unconsciousness or our dark side. This dark side includes all of our past and all of our sufferings. But more importantly, it also includes our potential.

Being rooted in the mud means we’ll have to take responsibility for our sufferings. The higher we’ll need to rise through the waters of life, the deeper we’ll have to root.

Rising towards the light reflects the necessity to aim high and towards something good. Our aim prevents us from getting lost in the water.

The hoovering leaves and flowers represent our capacity to observe and detach from the sufferings in which we’re rooted. The opening of the petals symbolizes the expansion of our consciousness.

About the collection

September 19, 2018 by Steven Pauwels Leave a Comment

“Daily reminders of our nature.”

Honoring the tradition:

The lotus flower collection, integrates several artisanal traditions of Morocco. Each tradition brings along a whole range of possibilities, provided the perfect setting for a co-creation. At least 5 different artisans participated in the co-creation of each flower.

“Each presentation showcases how a vision can transform diversity into one.”

Inspired by our nature:

As presented in more detail in the accompanying writings of this collection, the collections is inspired by the 15 virtues or tunes of co-creation. The design & creation of each virtue started by looking up the significance of flowers. Both flowers & virtues make up the reality of our nature.

Inspired by the blooming of the lotus flower, the leaves and roots provide for an unlimited number of presentation.

The petals of the different flowers are made out of first quality glass & the silver & golden looking metals. The glass comes in 4 colors: red, bleu, green & amber. Occasionally, some yellow & lighter shades of bleu & red can be found in this first quality glass as well. The metal are an alloy of copper, zinc & nickel. All materials are sourced locally.

“The 100% handmade aspect of these co-creations serve to honor & respect our human nature.”

Balance & harmony:

As virtues root towards their origin, the lotus’ potential rises through the waters of life. Our virtues co-create balance & harmony in our inner homes.

The design of each presentation is balanced in alignment with the 5 feng shui elements. Metal, water, wood, fire, & earth. Besides the obvious metal and wood element, the water element is represented by the glass & wavy shapes of the petels. The earth element is represented by the amber colors of the glass and the copper alloy. The t-lights provide for the fire element.

They are beautiful in daylight, but it is in the dark that they show their true colors. It is in those moments we’ll need to connect with virtues the most.

In the middle of each flower and in the bottom of the wooden sockle, you’ll find the Scent&Sense logo, hammered in with a stamp tool, guaranteeing the authenticity of each co-creation.

” May each of these creations serve as daily reminders, daily reminders to nurture our nature.” – Steven Pauwels.

Cocreation & making choices:

The design of the collection results in a multitude of presentation options, providing for the co-creation of unique expressions of light. With each kind of presentation, several flowers have to choosen, and maybe even combined. This element of the collection shows the value of cultivating our inner virtues. Our virtues allow us to change the way we make our choices.

“When we aim to manifest our potential, choices can no longer be made with the mind.”

Compassion

August 14, 2017 by Steven Pauwels Leave a Comment

“Compassion is a flower that blossoms by feeling what lays protected in our own heart.”

We cultivate empathy by imagining and understanding the situation and background of the other. Compassion, however, only arises out of our felt sense experiences of uncovering our own heart.

“ I connected with compassion through the dance of letting go. It was only after seeing through my most important strategies of protection that I was able to engage in this dance. Working & alcohol had been my most obvious strategies but I discovered several others along the road. ”

The first steps of this dance are about accepting the arising judgments & beliefs about ourselves. We created these beliefs, early in life as protection to deal with difficult happenings. These happenings are mostly referred to as our childhood woundings in the domain of psychology. As we were not able to give expression to our emotions at the time & release them, we held onto them. This created residue in all of our bodies; our mental, physical, emotional & our energetic body.

“It is why at times it seems like we are over-reacting. We are !”

After these first steps, we’re able to allow ourselves to feel what moves inside of us as the dance continues. The dance of letting go brings us in touch with all that we protected ourselves from. As we go through different layers of emotional residue, our compassion awakens. Besides compassion, the dance of letting go will call upon courage & acceptance.

Compassion allows us to forgive ourselves, even though nothing needs to be forgiven. Forgiving is an act to clear emotional debt, memories & the energetic residue we hold inside. It can only be done with an open heart. It requires the willingness to feel what we didn’t want to feel anymore. As an adult, our understanding has evolved & now we know that we can remain present with this.

Courage

August 14, 2017 by Steven Pauwels Leave a Comment

“Courage allows us to uncover the different layers of protection we have build around our heARTs.”

Courage is the most mentioned tune on the inner journey. It defines the tempo on the dance floor of life. Always present in the background and called upon each time we’re invited to let go of different layers of protection around our hearts.

Courage helps us face what lays covered underneath our beliefs and conditionings. It enables us to let go and cut through the illusions that prevent us from going there. Courage is rooted in the foundation of trust & comes from the Latin word « cor », which means heart. Other tunes alike, its essence is to be found in our own heart.

Courage is the key that opens the doors to the unconscious parts of our being. At the entrance of these doors, dense emotions & even fear arise. It is much better to open the door first at some point, instead of waiting for the unknown to break free from behind it. Remember that these doors cover the pathways to our own hearts.

“If we want to hear what music is playing, we’ll need to focus our attention on the inside. “

We have built layers of protection around our heart, in the form of beliefs & all kinds of behavioral patterns. These layers are wrapped & twisted around a variety of emotions & feelings we could not express before. We touch upon courage by facing them with the knowledge that now, we can remain present with them & allow these emotions to be seen.

Courage is the willingness to feel & express our heart, fully realizing that it is not always joy, love & beauty. Courage allows us to move forward knowing some parts of us will die. These parts, however, do no longer serve us and are “protecting” us from our own light.

“Entering our darkness is the first step, it takes all the cultivated courage to accept our light.”

Persistence

August 14, 2017 by Steven Pauwels Leave a Comment

” Persistence allows us to stand up, each time, one more time.”

Persistence, together with patience are the tunes that guide us towards the middle of the dance floor. In the center exists the magical here & wow. While savoring the moment, they remain present as bouncers at the door. They appear each time we go for a walk into the past or the future.

“No matter how many times we stumble & fall, we can always stand up one more time. “

When we start seeing each happening as a learning experience, we can transform many of our frustrations into persistence. Lessons learned through felt sense experiences tend to stick with us, without the need to remember with the mind. Persistence invites us to listen to all of our inner tunes another time around.

Persistence doesn’t mean we’re moving in the same direction all the time. It invites us to stay alert & keep the dance alive, even if that means practicing patience. More often than moving forward, it requires the basic steps of letting go.

Roots are persistent. At times they make strange turns but that doesn’t hold them from venturing further into the soil of the unknown. Persistence is being able to hold off a little longer when the mind’s plan is not working out. Slowly we’ll touch upon a deeper tune of acceptance & clarity.

What seems like persistence at times may be our resistance to letting go. Persistence is waiting on the other side. Discerning between them can only be done through dancing, turning, letting go, falling & standing up again.

For as long as we have not learned from a certain story, the story repeats itself. Mostly with different actors but the main character is always the same. Our repeating stories provide for the perfect setting to give ourselves another go on the dance floor of life.

Honoring the tradition:

Inspired by our nature:

Balance & harmony:

Cocreation & making choices:

How can we be of service?