Today is a day of remembering. Remembering those who lost their lives in combat. Those who lost their lives caught between forces beyond their control. Soldiers as well as civilians. We honor their sacrifice and grieve for their suffering.
Remembering is a necessary process, so that we can learn from the past and move into the future with purpose. But with remembering comes sadness, sometimes even anger at what could have been. Somehow we must weave compassion into those memories--for ourselves and for others--so that remembering becomes a blessing, like last fall's leaves decaying to become fertile loam for this season's blossoms.
The process of making a series of felted covered stones for Margie of Resurrection Fern is my attempt at remembering--preserving a perfect April day with her and encompassing what Margie has meant to me in this last year of healing for me.
Margie's blog--her storytelling, her photographs, her art, her deep appreciation for nature--opened me up to what I needed just at the right time in my life. It has been an elemental friendship, calling on the forces of air, earth, fire, and water.
Through her inspiration I have reconnected with the natural world. It has helped me to heal.
I have learned to stretch my wings and take tentative flight.
Photograph by Margie of Resurrection Fern
At the same time I am trying to remain grounded.
I am learning to work with the fire inside of me, focusing on letting it blaze but not burn.
And I am trying to follow the natural flow of life, like the riffle and pool of a stone-lined creek. This last stone has yet to take shape. In my mind it keeps flowing from one form to another.
Through Margie's generosity to a friend, I have been reminded to reach out to others. That one act of kindness has enlarged my circle of friends and enriched my life. Thank you, Rane, for giving me added inspiration for the FireStone. And thank you, Sonia, for your inspiration for the format of this post. Through it I honor your parents and grandparents and the sacrifices they endured in a time of war.
6 comments:
Pat, you had it in you all the time. If I had any hand in this it was only to give you the gentlest of nudges and point you in a direction I am sure you were already headed in. You are a wonderful person and it has been with such joy that I have watched you explore, document and create.
I can't wait for the next chapter of this journey or your next art stone.
What a beautiful post. Many good wishes to you and your journey. Maybe we will meet some day when I am out your way. Many good wishes to you and your family.
Such beautiful thoughts and wishes and hopes. Much power to you on your way!
So many lovely things in this post. Those blue flowers! What are they? And thank you for writing a meaningful tribute for the day, a day of remembrance. Your turning outward will only help you turn inward, too. You can see that already with the incredible work you are doing on your stones.
Just wanted to say Hi! I found your blog today and love the felted earth stone. fabulous! I have listed you at my blog. thank you. : )
I recently happened upon Margie's blog, and now yours... such beauty hearing of your journey, your expression shown through your art stones is fantastic. I wish you many blessings along your way!
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