These last two years have been challenging for all of us as a collective group of humans, huh? We have experienced differing levels of loss, grief, frustration, anger, sadness, disappointment. Some are barely crawling now under the weight of their jobs or their families. My heart goes out to leaders, educators, medical professionals, pastors who have borne loads that have progressively gotten heavier over time.
Adult life is a series of griefs, but it just so happens that we are all carrying heavy loads at the same time. As I have been experiencing and learning myself, the Lord keeps giving me a picture of a pearl. The pain and irritation that comes into an oyster that forms beauty over time is a metaphor inviting us to not shut down but to engage the process.
This past Fall, I began working with layers over color. Some of the layers are 2 to three deep, and some are 15 to 16 layers deep. There’s a story there to be uncovered. Each layer builds and adds to the complexity of the beauty of our lives. A shiny life is not the goal, but our world would tell you it is. A shiny life just reflects the culture while a layered and complex life provides places to connect with others in their layered journeys.
The Art of Coming Alive 