The Beauty of Letting the Lotus Bloom

Fort Lauderdale, August 2006: Insight comes to us all in varied ways. Some find it in relationships, some in prayer or meditation and some in the planet’s beauty. Kevin Joel Kelly finds wisdom in Nature’s flamboyant gift of magnificent flowers and in the creation of artful flower arrangements. He eloquently conveys his views to us in his wonderful book, Letting the Lotus Bloom, the Expression of Soul through Flowers. This book is indisputably a ‘don’t miss!’

Just as Alice’s looking glass served as a portal through which she could enter new and different worlds, so each of us has at our disposal portals suited to us, magical entryways that reveal the depths of our world. In this deceptively simple and personal book by Kevin Kelly, the life of the florist and the practice of flower arranging becomes such a doorway to meaning.
From the Foreword by Thomas Moore,
author of Care of the Soul

"I never gave flowers a second thought, other than buying them every now and then and sometimes remembering to put an aspirin in the water. Then I read Letting the Lotus Bloom. I found it to be both strong and delicate, like the flowers it celebrates. I loved the voice and the stories. And, not surprisingly, it left me with a new respect for flowers and the people who work with them."

"What did surprise me, however, was how powerfully Letting the Lotus Bloom connected me with soul in general, my soul in particular, and the beauty of soul’s unfolding. I will read this book more than once, and I will give it to friends, with and without an accompanying bouquet."
—Victoria Moran,
author of Creating a Charmed Life

This book is a gift to all of us on a creative path! It reminds us that successes, setbacks, joy and tears are all a part of the process, but that, like the lotus, we will always bloom. It is how we are designed.
—Ardith Beveridge, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, CAFA, MSF,
Founder and Director of the Koehler and Dram Institute of Floristry

Through an act of art one enters into the mystery of soul. As art is created, soul is birthed in the world. Letting the Lotus Bloom explores flower arranging in relationship to this mystery, and finds insights that are applicable for artists in any medium and will inspire anyone endeavoring to live an artful life.

About the Author:
Kevin Joel Kelly has been a professional floral designer for more than thirty years. He has taught floral design in classrooms to aspiring professionals, one-on-one in flower shops, and in workshops. Kevin lives in Kansas City, MO, where he is a freelance floral designer and offers classes and workshops in flower arranging.