Nature knows best how to work with the medium of wood. Artists have a long-standing relationship with this important material but it is nature that can really create beauty out of anything. Nature communicates in magnificent ways for  those who take the time to observe and discern its messages. There is insight in the most unusual places. This piece of driftwood I found on the beach is a source of artistic profundity.

This log has drifted ashore and the effects of its waterlogged state are evident to me. The log has found this final resting place, a bed of rocks and seaweed.  The colors and textures of this small landscape draw me in to understand what is happening here. I do not know the place of origin of this tree and I can only wonder how far it has traveled on its journey.

There is a natural process of slow decay unfolding. When I look closely, I find that the wood is rotting more rapidly around the stems of what were the branches of this cedar tree. The bases of the old branches protrude stubbornly as if resisting this process. The water content of the log has made the rest of the tree softer and more vulnerable to decay with time. I notice how the places where the tree once reached out to the sky through its branches; these are the parts today that remain steadfast. They are the lasting legacies of its lifetime of growth and development.

Our journey here on earth is about reaching out to the sky. It is about being open to going beyond what is today. Growing and pushing through our limiting beliefs, our fears, and the outer shell that holds us back, helps us become stronger. We are like the cedar tree when we allow growth to unfold in our lives. We are strongest in the places where life shows us we must grow.