As I have been settling back in to life after my trip to Eugene, I have had to do so by hitting the ground running...  we are in full swing of homeschooling, co-ops, art-making, and reconnecting with friends and family.  I finally was able to spend some time in the last week looking at images from my trip to Eugene, OR, and found that the closer I looked, the more I saw in each image.  I found myself smiling and remembering the early morning light that filled the living room that housed the baskets holding these tiny parts of our bigger world.  They called out to me like hidden treasures underneath the hearth, waiting to be discovered.

As I took them out and placed them one by one on the stone hearth,  I was struck by how similar in make-up the tiny bits were, yet each possessing their own unique characteristics that made them beautiful.  I let myself imagine what life they once were part of, and what their journey had been from their place in nature to the place beneath the fireplace... whose hands lifted them up off the ground or out of the water and into pockets.  I wondered if they knew they were still full of life-giving energy, and that they were being immortalized through the recording of their shape in space, experienced through holding and feeling their surfaces, and attributed with new meanings that I was projecting onto them.  Points to ponder...

I love this part of nature-- the endless shape, form, color, line, texture, and symbolism that is gifted to us so freely.  Allowing myself to get lost in these details reminded me to do so intentionally, mindfully, in touch with my breath, especially when I forget to slow down enough to see them surrounding me naturally.  I thanked these tiny sculptures for sharing their essence with me, hoping on some level it supported their being, and offered gratitude to Stephen White (light sculptor artist in previous post) for letting me play with them on my last morning in Eugene.  Seeing these images will always remind me of the peace felt in the cocoon of morning light, and of allowing myself to be lost while feeling found...