It wasn’t a literal journey.
It was a journey of the heart. A journey to deal with the death of the future I thought I wanted. It should have been a joyful and bright time in my life. I was just graduating from college, but life wasn’t panning out how I’d expected — at all.
But throughout it all I had people taking my hand and helping me take the next step. Sometimes literally, mostly figuratively. I often took my camera, Bible and journal and went on long walks on the weekends. I’d walk and sit, and write, and read, and take photos.
One of my favorites was a series of photos of two strong trees. It’s framed with three pictures, and hangs in my room to this day. The first photo is a picture of the trees through a chain link fence from a distance with the focus on the fence. That’s where I started my year. I was focused on the fence, on the blocked goal.
The next photo is zoomed closer and the focus is on the trees. The fence is still visible, but it is what’s out of focus. This represented my shift from the grieving toward looking for hope.
In the last picture, there are only trees. No fence in sight. It is captioned, “Forge Steadily Onward.” That was my mantra in 2006. Keep going. It will be worth it. In the words of Psalm 42, your soul may be in turmoil now, but Hope in God. You will praise again.
I love that word picture ! Thanks so much!
Love that imagery ! Thanks so much for sharing !
I love your honestly and creativity. Thank you for sharing this story.