Card, and thoughts

Yesterday i had a fab day! I met with a friend who i hadn’t had contact with for just over 6 years. She got in touch before Christmas and yesterday we met up at a spa and spent the afternoon catching up. It was a real blessing to spend this time with her and to be able to talk about anything and everything. I love relationships where you feel you can be yourself, and not have to try to hide the bits you don’t like for fear the other person will desert you. Immediately we seemed to be able to open and honest with each other. 

During our time together she told me about her daughter who i used to spend a lot of time with, babysitting for her and just hanging out. Now she’s at uni but struggling with constant back pain that no one seems to be able to help her with. I decided to make her a card, and used ideas from henna designs. I love this type of drawing and love including symbolism in my designs. This card took thoughts  about waiting, and about not knowing what might happen… Themes I’ve been reflecting on in my own life recently as I’ve had another battle with bouts of depression.

Here I started with a sunrise… Linking to the idea of the cyclical nature of life… Things never stay the same for long and even in dark patches the sun will rise again (though that’s not always so easy to remember or to believe when you’re in the middle of them). But my sunrise also use elements of flowers within it, and i wanted to represent the idea that underground, plants are still growing even when we can’t see it. Here i added roots reaching out in different directions. For me i always want to be blossoming like a beautiful flower, but today as i was praying and looking out of the window into the garden i noticed one of the bulbs growing in a pot. It’s tall, with leaves, and i know a fantastic hyacinth flower will develop soon. For that flower to develop the bulb has spent months underground, lying dormant, germinating and growing without me seeing anything. I recognised that God could see that happening, and that God can see what is going on under the surface in each one of us, even when we think nothing is happening. Or Maybe nothing is happening, but maybe that is needed rest time before growth can occur. 

Of course, once the flower has blossomed it dies back again, and that can be hard to deal with, but then there is the hope that it will grow again, and that is worth waiting for. 

Finally i included dragonflies in the design. I like the idea that living things can help to give sustenance and life to other things, and i also like the idea of joy and freedom that i see represented in a dragonflies darting flight. 

So, design done, I’ll now send the card to my friend’s daughter, and hope that it blesses her as much as reflecting on these themes has blessed me. 

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