For some, the title of this post may evoke images of something broken, something gone awry, like Humpty Dumpty's cracked and splattered remains that could not be put together again. For me, however, the pieces have always been a source of both challenge and pleasure--and picking them up means that I can rearrange them to create something new. Perhaps that's why I have long been drawn to mosaics and collages, embroidery and poetry--all created from pieces of tile, paper, thread, and words that I can reassemble into humble little works of art. (And making collages means I can use my
scissors!)
So, too, my life continues to emerge from the pieces (some fragments and shards, some well-spun threads) into a coherence I could not have predicted, even a few months ago. Here are some of the pieces:
- a new job that employs my skills in writing, editing, teaching....and encourages entrepreneurial endeavors
- workplace projects that engage my "two brains" and satisfy my intellectual curiosity
- a wonderful yoga class once a week, right after work, 5 min. from my office
- every other Friday off to enjoy long weekends with the retired Scientist (and to compose this blog)
- an opportunity to bring poetry into the workplace (stay tuned for that one!)
- continued contact with the Albuquerque poetry community
- a friend who took over my rented office when I no longer needed the space
My years, like my collages, are not puzzles fit together in a predetermined pattern, but the result of piecing together colors, lines, words, images--pulling forth meaning from the disparate elements, letting them speak for themselves in whatever form emerges. Picking up the pieces, and putting them together again.
