I find I can really connect to the energy of a place when I am truly paying attention. It’s a meditative process that is almost habitual for me now. Long walks in nature offer me some of the most creative and spiritual experiences in my life. Solitude in the woods is a perpetual source of inspiration for my work. My happiness is well grounded in this kind of experience.

I believe that it is really important to take the time to think about things. That’s a huge challenge in a culture that cultivates chronic time deficits and hurry sickness. We value busyness to a fault.  But how often do we actually take the time to check in with our souls?

The kind of deep level thinking about  life that creates healing and inner peace,  takes time and courage. It’s also not always easy to practice this kind of personal reflection so we try to find ways, either consciously or unconsciously, to escape the act of thoughtfully considering our own life. What is the point of being in a hurry and always rushing around to get things done when your own life remains unexamined?

I experienced a tipping point on this matter  as a result of six months of chemotherapy during which I was primarily bed ridden. One does a great deal of thinking when trapped by circumstance within the same four walls for an extended period. Fortunately,  one does not need a health crisis to be able to reach this kind of personal wisdom and self-awareness.

I share this image of the Love installation in the woods mainly because it documents a moment of serenity for me as an artist. I find that the answers I need seem to present themselves most often when my mind is open and free. That is more likely to happen when my mind is wandering as I am doing here in the woods.

Love reveals beauty  and wisdom in so many unexpected places. When you allow time to collapse upon itself, you are in a timeless moment wherever you are. That is where you’ll find love.  You can’t love in the past or the future. You learn to love by loving, right here, now,  in the seemingly middle of nowhere in the woods. Anything else is just something you imagine.