I stood up to clear the dining table when I noticed my lunch plate. I saw a picture here. I love the orange peels that fell into place next to the mismatched utensils. Even the tiny nick on the rim added to its imperfection. I brought them beside a window, recreated the scene, and photographed them.
Just like this image, my life has been a hodge-podge of experiences. Sometimes, I can’t seem to make sense of them and where I’m headed next. Ann Lamott in an interview with Maria Shriver recounted a professor who once told her writing is like driving at night with the headlights on. You can see a little way in front of you but you can make a whole journey that way. Hmm, that makes sense to me at this moment. I have this vague theory that if I string together these meaningful endeavors, collage art, writing and photography, it’ll eventually lead somewhere. We’ll see how it pans out.
If you’re in the same boat, maybe in this messy middle where you don’t know what to do next, I invite you to take a few pauses in your day and appreciate something beautiful right in front of you— something as ordinary as clearing a plate after lunch.