Although purely utilitarian in nature, the initial impact of this image was a bit startling. From the vantage point of my lens capturing the shackles around these beautiful bronze bubble toes, I felt a twinge of sadness until I followed the path of the metal upwards.

Delightful isn’t she? Completely appropriate word for her I think. Light, fun, goofy – just like the rest of her friends in the garden. Just look at them.

For more images of Phillip Glashoff’s sculptural whimsy and other wonderous works at the Judith Hale Gallery in Los Olivos – click here.

But back for a moment to the emotions stirred from the original image – such a perfect metaphor really, for how the human spirit is able to overcome adversity. When we are “held captive” or “stuck” by either external sources or our own fears, what is it that gives some individuals the strength to persevere, to keep trying to move forward, the personal power to overthrow their adversaries, the desire to continue to survive and prevail? Is it just undying faith? The unwavering belief that this is not their destiny and the best will surely come sometime soon? Do they maintain their fortitude on behalf of another? Do they just shut themselves off from the reality of the earthly situation and venture off to another more loving, peaceful place in their own minds? How is it that some people have endured a life time of repeated loss, tragedy and hardship and still their soul has the capacity to soar? I have met people like this as you may have too – circumstances that would break a good share of us seem to make these people shine even brighter. Is it a profound sense of gratitude that they maintain for what they DO have? Do they just continue to count their blessings? Do they see the gift in the experience no matter how potentially crushing and catastrophic it is?

This act of seeing the gift in every situation is not a new idea, but if we could master just this one practice, just think about how the course of our lives could be altered for the better. Sometimes it is very difficult to find the gift in a situation, but if you write down every bit of your past baggage, every occurrence that repeatedly flies back into your life to reek havoc, every devastating tragedy that you have withstood, and partner it with a gift you received from it – I bet you would be surprised how you can turn your focus around and these past happenings will be empowering rather than sabotaging. You will be able to move on. You don’t have to forget, but your focus will be different and it will open you to inspiration and the strong urge to create once again.

Give it a go and let me know how it works out for you. Those silver linings – we just have to keep searching them out.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Art and Music, Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.