“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” Rachel Carson
Elements of Geologic Time Collage
I was recently asked how I was coping? If you have followed this blog for any length of time you know that what motivates my work are the natural elements. What centers me in life is nature. Nature is awe inspiring! I have thought a lot about nature recently and spent a lot of time enjoying it.
Here we are living on planet Earth which was born of violence and yet became a world capable of trees and the tenderness of flowering fields. Yet it is strong and formidable, with inhabitance living on it from the smallest single cell organism to humankind.
When your life is spiraling out of control getting centered and reconnecting with what's important in life if very important. Staying focused on the present is very important. Being strong in your sense of self-worth and having a sense of purpose are also important. For me to connect to the core of who I am in the face of uncertainty I turn to nature. If not out in it, by reading about it, studying it, or creating geologic collages of it.
I have found that if we stop long enough to enjoy that which surrounds us and allow our senses to feel and enjoy that which we are surrounded by, we open ourselves to an energy like no other. We open our mind and imagination. Whatever has happened, whatever is going to happen in the world, it is this living moment that contains the sum of exhilaration. It is this moment in which we touch life and all its energy, because it is the present...the now! We are not thinking about the past or worrying about the future we are feeling the energy and joy of the moment. It is a celebration of life itself, of the living mind and its imagination and the power of that imagination to irradiate the world with the wonder of nature. Yes, it is nature that gives me an energy for living which naturally spills over into my creative world.
But as I contemplate my world as it is now, there is another energy that I miss and that is the energy you get by being in a group of other creative people, or people who want to create. I miss teaching, I miss my students their eagerness to have the opportunity to be in a creative setting, to watch the creative process unfold, and to share with others that experience. I know many continue to create because they send pictures of their work. And each of those emails give me energy.
Yes, I am an optimist by nature and I plan on my world going back to normal by the first of the year. I am making plans and living in hope. I am back in the studio and enjoying the creative process.
“The only way out of something is all the way through it.” Maya Angelou