And as we’re working with our own souls, we open our rose petal by petal. And hopefully no petal is damaged. At the right time it opens and how ever fierce the fire that it finds itself in, if it’s given time and love, it opens. And gradually the whole flower becomes a totality. The reality of the rose is there. And it may be in fire, but it’s the fire that’s giving it its strength. The fire — the suffering as we go through. We can’t avoid suffering, that’s simply part of life. But can we hold the reality of our own rose while we are going through that fire?

Marion Woodman