Enfolded Nature Girl

'Enfolded Nature Girl' clay by me

Today I thought I would shake it up with a little clay girl I made a while back. Her eyes are resting closed and she has her knees folded into her core with her arms hugging her legs. She is all covered with leaves, and berries, and you can't see it very well, but there is a rose bloomed at her knees. The rose broke off and into pieces, and I've never replaced it, almost as if the rose weren't meant to bloom yet. Her legs also merge into the shape of a snake.

I remember making this, and what a surrender it took to work with clay. I also remember how I felt I was creating a part of my being outside of myself--one that needed much rest, enfolded in the arms of nature, guided by the promise of blooming. I remember how the moment of creation spoke of a process of enduring the harshness of being in a body, sensitive to the elements both natural and man-made: the incessant changes, the beckoning of learning, growth, coming to life, letting life come to you, and the courageous allowing of intricate intelligences of transformation to do their bidding--shedding as many skins as needed until the body could safely unfold, and the heart remain safely out in the open to be embraced.

I let her speak:

There is a tiny one within, unfolding, whispering the okayness of just existing, the simple rightness of merely breathing, seeking shelter and nourishment; a season of readiness to move, to begin, to engage, to let go-- to meet vulnerability without protection, Vision earned, and most  humble discernment endowed--a discernment that changes shape when touching alignment. Remember the most natural belonging and a welcome that never leaves. Welcome the greening within you, even in winter when there is no sign of bloom.