Be a warrior...become a lotus flower

Today I thought I’d share a letter I wrote the the CEO’s in my portfolio on March 24th. This was about 10 days into my family’s quarantine and 5 days from when Austin. put the stay in home orders in place.

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To my warrior family,

Today I’m going to lay some spiritual motivation on you…...

In many eastern religions the Lotus Flower has significant meaning.  The short version is the wonder that something so beautiful and delicate as the lotus flower can grow from such a gross and harsh environment (lotus flowers typically grow out of mud and bogs).  You can learn more about lotus flowers here.  This is why the lotus flower is a very common tattoo.

I have 4 lotus flowers tattoo’d on me for different reason.  The first one I got, a purple one, is part of the half-sleeve I got on my left arm after being in the Tsunami in Thailand in 2005.  The full tattoo is a samurai warrior climbing up a cliff and running away from a tsunami.  The samurai was meant to represent the literal experience we had - running up and down a cliffside helping and looking for missing and injured people (and worse).  The reason I added the lotus to that tattoo (six months later) was the realization that the Tsunami, as ugly and destructive as it was, gave birth to so much beauty and growth, both figuratively and literally, in my life.

Fast forward to 2019, as most of you know/have seen, I finished that sleeve on my left arm this year, 14 years later.  It’s a Koi-Dragon and 3 pink Lotus Flowers.  Koi fish tattoo’s represent overcoming difficulties.  As legend has it, what makes the Koi-Dragon special is that it starts off as a koi fish, swims up a river and over a waterfall, turns into a dragon, get’s wings and flies away.  The meaning behind it is that only a very few koi fish can make it up and over the waterfall and make this transition. Only the ones who really fight and persevere. The true warriors.  

I added the Lotus Flowers to this tattoo as a constant reminder that life is a series of micro and macro transitions and challenges, some good / some bad.  And a reminder that every day there is mud and grossness and darkness….and also every day there is beauty and light and peace….and most importantly that forging forward with intention always leads to the next level of beauty.

When I started this tattoo in 2006 I had a rough vision of what it might mean to me some day and what I wanted it to look like.  I intentionally waited to finish it because I didn’t feel like I had lived enough yet to deserve it. Something changed in me last year (a different story for a different day) and I knew the time was right to finally finish it.  And I intentionally started the tattoo in 2019 and finished it in January 2020 - symboling yet another transition. Something told me 2020 was going to be a ’special’ year.

What I didn’t know was just how special ….

I know it doesn’t feel like it at the moment, but we are all very lucky right now.  All of us. We are smart, driven, creative, hard working bad ass mother fuckers. And while it may feel like the world is crumbling around us, WE are the warriors that will help keep the spirit alive and we will be a part of the rebuilding.  We are very lucky to be living and learning through this virus and eminent recession. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but we are all being presented with an amazing opportunity to learn and to thrive. When I asked you to let me join you on your journey, through Techstars, it was because I saw the warrior in you.  The person who looks at obstacles as opportunities and the person who thrives when challenged. YOU ARE STILL THAT PERSON!

So as we enter this week, another week of ambiguity and stress and ugliness, my ask of you all is to remember the warrior inside you now so we can build the lotus flower of the future!

Love to you all!