The Orchid of Quiet Strength | A Reflection on Gentle Resilience in Children

There is a kind of strength that doesn’t rush forward or make itself known with sound. It grows quietly inside us, steady and sure, like a soft pulse that doesn’t ask to be noticed. I felt this once while sitting with an orchid,  its petals held with such delicacy, yet its presence unmistakably strong. There was a quiet strength in the way it opened, a trust in its own timing, a rootedness that didn’t need to prove anything.

Some children  and some adults carry this same kind of strength. Not loud or forceful, nor shaped by performance or attention. Instead, their resilience unfolds in subtle moments: choosing kindness when it would be easier to withdraw, returning gently after disappointment, holding softness without collapsing. It is a strength that doesn’t harden; it deepens.

In the Andean world, this quality is often held within the word munay - a loving presence that carries both tenderness and power. Munay reminds us that strength does not always look like pushing through. Sometimes it is the choice to remain open. Sometimes it is the quiet refusal to let the world make us smaller or harder than we are meant to be.

When we recognise this quiet strength in ourselves, it often arrives as a soft unfolding - not dramatic, not immediate, but unmistakably alive. The orchid teaches this well: it grows slowly, anchors gently, and blooms only when its inner timing says yes. Yet when it opens, the room shifts and a subtle beauty unfolds.

Noticing this in myself helped me understand something I had missed for years: that gentleness can be a form of resilience, and that blooming does not need to be loud to be extraordinary. Quiet strength is not the absence of vulnerability. It is the quiet knowing that our softness is allowed, that our timing matters, and that our roots hold more than others may ever see.

More Ways to Wander

You may also like:

• When the Forest Stands With You
• The Quiet Art of Walking Slowly With Your Child
• How Children Find Belonging in Nature