These past three years have changed all of us. Not only in the collective, obvious ways. You may have changed on a personal, interior level in ways you did not intend, nor could have foreseen. You may even be upset with yourself that you don’t feel the same way about certain things.

Wondering if you can trick yourself into fitting in where you no longer feel an affinity. You might think, “Maybe it’s just a passing phase.” After all, you were happy with the status quo for so long. We were successful in teaching ourselves that passion is dangerous, duty is king, when you make a bed you must lie in it, and when you make a home you must die in it.

But these are not truths. Things fall apart, and things come together. Don’t underestimate the power of your spirit to make itself known. Treating the symptoms alone will never cure the cause. If you see things differently…if you feel differently than you used to, this will manifest in your actions, and choices and your life will naturally seek change to reflect this. Change is scary, you will be afraid. Feel the fear and do it anyway. We are not slaves, we can live differently.

Yes, you can choose to live among the relics of the life you have grown accustomed to, but maybe they will feel barren now. Life asks you, at certain points, to remember who you are. It shows you where you have been beaten down and convinced that you are not good enough. But, you ARE good enough.

While the future is unknown, You sometimes clearly see the destructive cycles you were blind to, yesterday.. But inside, you can contemplate the new adventures you crave. Preparing for the time when you will surge forward with new hope and purpose ready to leave behind the bones and dust of the past.

The heart wants what the heart wants. It can only be trod on so much. You are being shaken free. Are you prepared to take your sacred fire and run with it? There are wide open spaces in front of us to create something new. Live now, and if others call you defiant, it is only because you would not live according to their rules about who you are allowed to be.

May your spirit guide you on your path, and help you to make new starts where you seek them most.

This painting was made in November 2021, and mirroring life- as, through a glass, darkly, I made the best decisions I could, with what I know and what I felt. No one is special- everyone is the same.

Title: Bones and Dust

Size: 56in x 46in

Media: Acrylic on canvas, beads, pencil