Spied this little beauty as Mom and I came through the back yard at the end of our walk – peeking through a crack in the concrete patio that extends from the back of the house to the house-sized garage/studio behind it. We both saw it at the exact same moment and I ran to get my camera so I could snap some photos before getting out of my sweaty clothes, cleaned up, and over to the church.
Morning glories grow wild here – all over the place. Seeing this one springing up out of a lifeless slab of composite stone was particularly striking. Begging our attention.
After I took this picture and got it set up in iPhoto, I noticed the crack and the shadow visible on either side of the delicate (yet courageous!) stem. I wished they were more distinct. More obviously separate, set in different tones so I could tell them more easily apart from each other.
So many changes going on inside. This was the (very broad) topic of discussion on my walk with Mom. It’s not always easy to tell when an ache for change is coming out of the cracks in what has been the established, safe, familiar framework of life – and when it’s springing from shadows in my heart. I wish I could tell them apart more easily – or at all.
But then I wonder if it’s better that I can’t. If it’s actually okay to let them be, in all their similarities and differences. Maybe I don’t need to be able to label them. They are what they are. Maybe all I need to do is notice the bits of life and beauty springing up from the cracks and shadows.
