Transitions Are Beautiful
Ah...moving. And the challenge of trying to fit square pegs into round holes!
I suppose it is an apt metaphor for my life in transition. Transition from caregiver to free spirit. What once was a perfect fit has made way for a new way of being.
That said, what I am really talking about here is change. And we all know that change is a constant variable. Unavoidable. Yet most of us will, kicking and screaming, try to avoid it, at all costs.
But sometimes, change is set into motion by forces beyond our control...like someone dying.
So while my change has taken the form of moving my studio home, it is also a reflection of, and a reminder of my father. I have literally filled the void that was once his bedroom, with my art studio. As things are playing out in my life so perfectly, my art studio inhabiting Dad's space makes a lot of sense. He was my biggest fan, after all.
In noticing that I haven't written a post for about 2 months, I recognize the grief that is still bubbling just below the surface. I may be crying less, but things have, for the moment, slowed down. And as my own best friend, I advised myself to be gentle with myself, and to not put any pressure on myself to put performance above healing.
Baby stepping it back to my blog, a little at a time.
When my mother died in 2006, I felt compelled to mark that transition with a portrait of myself and my girls, since we had been through so much. Perhaps it is as much a birthing process for the care givers as it is for the one who is dying...both transitioning to a new way of being.
And I upheld the tradition of getting a family portrait done, this time to mark my father's death.
And it made me realize that when I make a portrait of someone, that that portrait can become a symbol of that moment in one's life when everything shifted. Some kind of rite of passage that has taken place. And every time you look at the portrait now, it reminds you of that amazing difference in your life that shifted at that very moment. Through my portrait work, I can bear witness to who you are now, and create that marker for your transition.
What is something that you have been through that has pushed you through the birth canal into a new life, whether you wanted it or not? What is something that you have always dreamed of, and now you have achieved it? Whatever the catalyst, you have changed. If you have gone through a big change, let's talk about making some art to mark it. Whether done from life, or from a photo, it is about marking this moment with a visual symbol that will always bring you back to a flood of memories.
