Advent Day 13: Steady Practice

Often when I sit down to make these collages, what I think I am going to make and what I end up making are two very different things. The paper dictates the composition, as does color and occasionally the presence of words. The words “less fear” and “improve balance” in an article about yoga and strokes drove the direction of today’s arrangement.

I consider these words steady practice. improve balance. show less fear. in the context of news about someone I know diagnosed with lung cancer, another person anticipating invasive brain surgery, a friend who is now successfully recovering from a neck surgery, an acquaintance finding her way through Parkinson’s disease, family members with various physical and relational challenges and my own recovery from an unexpected health challenge. These words fly back and forth and back and forth between steady and practice. For me the only way to improve balance and show less fear is through the rigorous commitment to being a woman of faith. It’s a big tumble, so much so that I often don’t know which way is up. Do you?