Tuesday 19 July 2016

Burning Pine Cones

Wandering through my house in search of a certain art piece to finish i noticed how many sticks,rocks & pine cones i have collected and kept. All have a meaning of a place, a person,a time in my life. Some i remember, many i do not. But I've kept them all. Mother Nature's knick knacks. Like many people I have far too many knick knacks. Funny how we put memories, emotions and so much meaning on to objects. A part of being human I guess, or my part of being human.
A wise person told me once ' a person that loses a lot in life early on tends to hold on'. Hold on to friendships no longer, relationships devoid of love or meaning, habits that no longer serve even as simple and mundane as shirts that don't fit, photos that are meaningless. To let go is to lose something. Good or bad, right or wrong, its loss. It creates a void, an emptiness, something to fill.
I took the time to hold each one, inhaling the meaning of each. I took the time to ask 'is it your time to go'? I kept all the rocks. I kept a few pine cones. I gathered what was left, carefully taking any seeds to spread in the woods. They had now became empty vessels; like the memories of the people and places that had meant something once upon a time. I burned them in a ceremony of 'goodbye' and spread the ashes on various plants and trees that one day may produce cones or seeds that will become memories   to another person like me.
A little emptier. Time to fill with fresh, meaningful reminders of a beautiful life in the 'now'.
I eventually found my art piece and re-invented it. I kept a few key brush strokes and parts of images that had become catalysts for this new creation. I kept the best and let the rest go.
Happy Creating!
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