Leaves

I’ve been looking up

into the trees.

Into the rays of the sun;

the way it peeks through the branches,

allowing tiny pockets of warmth

and minutes at a time

to be still.

The trees are changing that is true.

I continue to walk,

collecting the leaves as they fall.

Searching for variety;

for the subtle differences between each one.

Each pattern is a map.

Each possibility natures way

of saying that every path

is the right one.

week 35. Variations and paths.

I have been walking through the woods looking for leaves these days, seeking out all sorts of varieties of shapes, colors and textures. I began to think about how many possibilities we encounter each day and all the variables that affect the choices we make. Wouldn’t it be easier to have a map or better yet a GPS in order to know which path to choose? I guess I’m much more at peace when I let go of that idea though. When I stop worrying so much about where I’ll end up and just try to notice what’s in front of me.

But my walks in the woods got me thinking about the simple act of walking as well. There’s not much needed really in order to walk, just the desire to move forward and that can be done even with out legs. I think that creating art is the same way, you have to just get in there and do it, there is only so much thinking you can do. At a certain point it’s better to just make the mess and then worry about how to clean it up. Wisdom seems to come from the process of moving forward, what ever the out come we grow from noticing what we feel, what we see, even what we collect along the way.