A new world is forming
Before our eyes.
Systems, both natural
and human-formed
are breaking apart.No longer relevant.
Fear of the new world
Causes many to want to
Re-build the past.Living in yesterday
Is never as satisfying
As the memory implies.Finding balance in the midst of an earthquake,
Can be difficult.
When the shaking subsides
Pickup the pieces
And make a new start.
I want to sail away
to the land of the Buddha Moon
on a river that knows no drought.
Away from the cares of the world
to rest under the peaceful watch
of the sacred gaze.There I can be released from the woes
That want to over take me.Instead, I must settle my mind
And listen to my heart.
To find new meaning
in the pieces of my life that remain.I will build a collage for living
By Cheryl McDonald 2022©
with the bits of past, present,
and future emerging refreshed
As spring follows winter.
To Listen to me read this poem click below
There is much to celebrate even in the midst of all that is wrong. Sometimes we have to look extra hard to find the good, but I work at this daily always giving gratitude in my morning journal to remind myself of the positive things that happen day to day.
A personal celebration is that I finally have a new pencil painting! It has been a long process healing from shingles for me. Getting enough of my vision back to be able to draw well has taken practice and many adjustments. The amount of time I can work has been limited but is improving almost daily, which gives me great joy! I started this piece in September and about half way through I decided that the work was not good enough to finish. There were details I didn’t like, including the paper I was working on and so I decided to start over. Today I can say that I am very pleased with the way it turned out.
This piece, Buddha Moon, captures a need in me, and maybe you as well, to have a place to go to rest, rebuild, and renew. It is not a real place but as my sister said more like a Willy Wonka World for adults. You can see the full piece on my website.
We are coming up on the end of 2022 and it has been another challenging year and there seems no end of change in sight. My poem captures the feeling of the ground shifting beneath our feet and the old breaking apart. Most of us are in some way unsettled and maybe even feeling untethered.
However, I do end this year having hope. I can see positive shifts and improvements becoming real and that gives me a sense that we will make it through to a better world. We are a resilient species and we will learn to live and co-exist on this planet we inhabit. We rarely go willingly to embrace new ways of living and the challenges are far from over. It is important that we give ourselves time away in a quiet place to recharge our batteries to go forward when we need to.
So I offer this painting as a place to rest your mind when you have no place to hide. Let it give you peace and stimulate your imagination to find solutions to move through the things that challenge you. Next year is full of possibility and I have much to be thankful for how about you?
Have a happy day!
Cheryl
Cheryl McDonald is a California Artist that has worked in multiple mediums and styles. Here, you can see more of her art or join her weekly newsletter
On to the Next Adventure 
Beautiful work ❤️ words and image!
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Thank you for your kind words Nancy!
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