Thankfully, most of the icicles have melted. But we are still here, looking out of our windows.
It’s March 2021 and it has been a year since we began stay at home orders and social distancing and all of the other restrictions that came with the challenges of COVID. For most people, this has been a year that held times of apprehension, sadness, frustration, and fatigue. Yet, for many there have also been surprising new perspectives, connections and creative expressions.
It seems like a good time to look at our lives from either side of the windows; windows that keep us in or windows that open us up.
We invite you to participate by sending an image of your view from either or both sides of the window. You may submit a piece of artwork, photography, or a short written reflection. Please send it to anawimarts@gmail.com and we will post it on our Community Conversations Forum.
You can also comment on this post to add your ideas on Either Side of the Window.
EITHER SIDE OF THE WINDOW
Poem by Arlene Ashack
Inside, warm and cozy,
But some days, oh so confining
Just to hear another voice
Touch another person
Becomes such a need
Outside ten inches of snow
With sunshine making it glow
And footprints of little creatures
Suggesting other forms of life
And another world
Two opposite window views…
Not really. One draws inward
The other outward
Actually a broadening and deepening
Enriching the soul
Remove the wall
And it’s one world
With its pain, struggle,
Joy and delight
All the parts evolving us
Who would have thought
Covid would open us
While closing us down
Poignantly revealing the
Hidden treasure of ourselves
Don’t jump to the outcome
Stay with the moment, they say
The journey offers
An excitement
Can I receive it
The mystery of it…
A paradox…
That dark and light
Enhance the sight
Allowing us to shine
Laugh in the dark
Cry in the light
It’s all one
Gifts in disguise
Giving us life
Photo by Cari Shields
The image looking in out was fascinating because I saw it as both of the same. The icicles looked like trees which also looked like they were more in than out, which went along with the out of the trees. Without the inner focus providing the icicles we would not have the life and focus of the outer side–the tree or tree of life.
Thanks Arlene.It’s beautiful.
I love the view presented in the photo by Cari Shields. Such an image of icicles which look very much like trees superimposed on actual trees makes us think of the paradoxes painted in Arlene Ashack’s beautiful poem. Thank you both for these evocative pieces of art.