art in a day's work: A Few Days Now

It's been a few days now. A few days since I've posted, a few days since life has felt all together normal. A few days since I've felt much like trying to reflect on my everyday life with a camera and a dose of humor. But I am starting to realize as the hours slowly turn to days that there is great beauty hidden, like diamonds in a dark mine, deep in the midst of mourning. When Solomon wisely told us of the time to weep and mourn and the time to laugh and dance, I had not realized before now that those times are much less distinct entities, one following the other, but are so much more two strands of a rope, spiraled together. As we shed tears over things that will never be, and cry because loss really does hurt, I am finding myself surprised at the sweet and the beautiful that I keep encountering. A bright sky piled with clouds spoke hope to me today. The pear tree that usually doesn't bloom for at least a couple more weeks opened up its first buds on Sunday. That was special to me, a small reminder of the beauty of new life on a day all I could see was loss. I know our lives will not now be what we had imagined they would, and that really makes me sad. I don't know how long it will be until the tears stop welling up in my eyes when I think about an adored uncle and treasured brother-in-law. It's easy to say that I know he is in a better place, a place full of light and beauty and joy, but harder to be truly happy his time to go there came so soon. To lose one you love is very hard, especially when it feels as though he has been taken before his time. But the small glimpses of beauty that I see sparkling out from what feels like a pile of ashes gives me hope that healing and joy will come with time. It's been a few days now and I am determined to continue looking for all that is beautiful as I learn what it means to truly mourn. It's been a few days now...