She Rises Strong-Chapter 12

Chapter 12 —She Rises Strong- The Healing Garden Collection

I had an invisible coat.

I am not joking. I had an actual big puffy coat that I wore to the beach and around town,that I named my invisible coat. I even introduced people to my coat. The things we do…I wore it so nobody would notice me. So nobody would expect anything. So I could be, without being seen, without having to fully show up, without having to be anything for anybody. Invisible.

It is easy to become invisible. Especially at a certain age. Society stops noticing you anyway. And when life has kicked the stuffing out of you and you are exhausted and grieving and just trying to get through the day — invisible feels safe. Invisible feels like rest.

But invisible is not rest. Invisible is hiding. And hiding is a habit that gets harder and harder to break the longer you practice it.

I had stopped saying yes to things. Because if you don't commit, nobody expects much from you. I had stopped showing up for myself, because that takes energy I didn't have. I put my personal power away little by little, for so long that I almost forgot it was there.

And then I painted irises.

Not my favorite flower, but they were blooming in my yard and caught my eye. I had never painted them before,never even considered it. But something drew me to them — their boldness, their detail, their extraordinary range of color, their quiet refusal to be anything other than exactly what they are. They stand straight in the spring rain like sentinels. They withstand the unpredictable spring weather. You never see them bent over or broken, and taking up as much space as they need.

They rise above it all.

And something in me rose with them.

Deep purple irises command the canvas with quiet authority, their velvety petals edged in gold and white, their stems rising straight and strong. Soft pink irises open gracefully alongside them — tender but unafraid. A blazing magenta iris rises on the right with the confidence. A white daisy opens fully at the center. A deep teal flower adds mystery and depth. A soft pink peony peeks from the upper left like a gentle reminder of softness. And all of it — every stem, every petal, every bold and tender bloom — rises against a luminous open sky of soft teal and blue. That blue sky that says everything will be ok.

This is not a gentle painting. This is a declaration, a quiet, determined declaration.

This painting is about taking back your power. Not finding new power — taking back the power you always had. The power that went quiet when life got loud. The power that hid inside the invisible coat, waiting for you take it off.

She rises strong. Not because life got easier. Not because the hard things went away. But because she remembered…finally remembered — that she was never as small as she had been living.

And neither are you. 💜

Take off the invisible coat. The irises are waiting.

The garden is open. You are welcome here. 💜

She Rises Strong is available as a museum-quality Fine Art Giclee Paper Prints, Canvas Giclee Print, Fine Art Card/Mini Prints on archival paper, and Gifts 

Explore the full Healing Garden Collection →

Ms. Laura Jones Paints | Creatively Beautiful