Authenticity in Action

What do you see when you look at this picture? Where do your eyes take you?

There are shadows and light. There's colour and aspects that might be referred to as rather drab. There's history and perhaps even neglect.

If you were asked to sum up this picture in one word - what would that one word be? Bleak? Dull? Boring? Inspiring? Hopeful? Twisted?

I look at this picture and I see Life, my life, a life well lived.

I see myself standing behind the lens of the camera and seeing my past before me - strewn on the ground like carpeting, some in the darkness of shadow, some in the blurred splash of light.

I see myself in the tree. The tree with the roots that run deep beneath the surface, out of sight, hidden and also in bumps and twists above the ground, visible to all who look for them, tripping those whose focus is elsewhere. The tree who started its growth as a sapling, straight and tall - and who learned to bend to the sun in its ongoing pursuit of weathering life's storms and intrinsic programming for survival.

I see the various stages of life, standing together, some providing shade, some creating beautifully dappled light - all strong, all alive, all quietly going about the business of being a tree.

And I see Hope - shining above, slightly in the distance, but not out of reach - never out of reach.

I look at this picture and I see the all of me - and I marvel that I could take a picture like this and not even see its reflection of Authenticity in action ... until later, when I actually stopped to look at it, and let it speak to me. And I give thanks and appreciation for this message from my Self - and vow to stop, and sit, and look, and listen more, often.

Did this picture speak to you? Please, let me know ...