I recently wrote about how I have been fixing up an old outbuilding and converting it into my art studio. A day after finishing up the front exterior wall of the studio the top window literally fell to the floor.
Fortunately no one was there at the time, but I was only gone for 5 minutes, and when I came back in there was shattered glass all over the place.
A lot of things were going on for me at that time, as I was in the throws of my grief, and I was a little upset that replacing that window was just another project that I would need to add to my growing list of activities. So many unexpected surprises when one is renovating a building.
I ordered the new glass and decided to do a mosaic from beach glass in the window. It was time to turn this strange event into something positive and beautiful. Thus the creation of this window from beach glass called ‘The Tree of Life”.
‘Tree of Life’ – Beach Glass Window 
Not long ago, I was drawn to the symbolism and magic of trees, as you can see from this sculpture here. I think originally it may have had something to do with thinking about family and the idea of ancestry and the family tree.
Lately though, my thoughts have turned to the tree as a symbol for a way of living. Be firmly rooted in your dreams, knowledge and insights in from your past experience and reach for the sun.
This has been an important lesson for me in my time of grief. Storms may rage around you, the darkness may come, but the sun shall return. It is a lesson that reminds me to reach for the sky, to keep sending out new branches to explore further and feel the light of the world and keep finding new opportunities for growth.
Wishing all my readers a time of renewal and growth. Keep reaching for the light!
What a beautiful place to be creative. I feel inspired by these images.
Thank you so much for your very kind words Cindy! I hope you have a fantastic day!
Beautifully symbolic! You might enjoy this excellent tree scripture — check out Psalm 92:12-14. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing! I really appreciate that so much and will take a look 😉 I hope you have a wonderful and beautiful day ahead.
Nice story I enjoyed it
Thank you so much. I am very glad to hear that!
This is so beautiful – thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to read it and it comment. I hope you have a great day and weekend!
Thank you too. Have a great day yourself!
A tree is so symbolic of the lives we live, love, loss, family, faith, strength, weakness, determination, enrichment, accomplishments and being able to stand, lean and grow through it all.
Beautiful window and words ♥️
It is easy for me to get lost in the powerful symbolism of the tree. I really appreciate your insights and the lessons that we can learn from the trees. Thank you for sharing your beautiful words and I hope you have a wonderful day ahead of you!
Thank you ♥️ I hope you have a perfectly creative and inspiring day xoxo
I like your view on the tree – it’s a great symbolism. And if that glass didn’t break, you wouldn’t have replaced it for something better, that glass was meant to break!
You know, I thought the same thing! That glass had been there for decades, it was almost like it was meant to break! Thank you so much for sharing this! I hope you are having a great week!
Beautiful analogy for life!
Thank you! I hope you are having a great day.
TAP,
The themes of darkness and light, death and resurrection, despair and ultimately restoration of hope, are pertinent ones in my life.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
-John 8:12
Your post is is so timely and inspiring to read. Thank you for giving me hope. I am in the process of digging deeply back into my roots of my faith. Continuing to heal the wounds of my past.
BG ❤️
I am glad my post was timely for you! It is great you are digging back into your faith and I hope you find healing and comfort in that. Restoration of hope is a big theme for me and that takes a lot of faith sometimes,
I hope you have a great week ahead!
You’ve created a beautiful window full of meaning and like your thinking on the tree of life which inspired the design of your new window.
Thank you for your kind words! I find trees to be amazing and I love the fact that I was able to add another tree to the ones that surround this building here! I hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you too. Trees do give so much to us by just being there.
Love grows from within and spreads. Love yourself first .We love you and your awesome artwork, pottery.
Thank you for your love and support. I am blessed for that and appreciate the reminder. I hope you are both having an amazing summer!
Beautifully put. Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much Christine! I hope you are having a great day!
Bit wet here!
It’s beautiful!!
Thank you!
I totally agree with your idea about trees and I like your artistic window.
I visit the farms of trees to find good ones to replant to my real estate projects. Everytime I replant the trees, I am surprised at their vitality.
Thank you for your kind words! It is great that you are planting trees within your projects and their vitality is almost like their way of saying thank you! I hope you have a wonderful day!
I love it… what a project and the perfect one to help you through your grief… so very sorry to hear of your loss…. you are doing a fantastic job of dealing with it… it isn’t an easy process, however, I am sooo happy to hear that the Trees are helping you to heal… 🙂 sending you a virtual hug for a fantastic day…
Thank you so much for your virtual hug and kind words. They mean a lot to me. I am fortunate to be surrounded by the trees! I hope you are having a wonderful week!
What an inspiration, you are! This proves positives can come from negatives. Your “Tree pf Life” window is beautiful!
Absolutely
It is interesting, I have always been drawn to trees, after reading the book “Speak.” For me, they represent something so holistic for me, like the magic of life. I feel that each tree can represent a different piece of humanity, whether that is joy, strength, sadness, etc.
I will have to look into reading that book and seeing what it is all about. I do feel trees are very holistic and that they have great energy and a certain kind of wisdom and magic. I am enthralled by the fact that they can stand tall and bend with the wind at the same time and survive many storms. I hope you are well and having a wonderful day!
I’m glad you found me again at my latest new blog so that I’d remember to return here and see what you’ve been up to. I’m so sorry for your recent loss–the whole family connections theme is fraught with tangled yarn for me. I’ve been estranged from my siblings for a long while, and though the parents passed years ago, I felt no grief–only relief. However, I can relate to what you said about time running out for whatever is possible, in terms putting pieces together or reconciliations. I regret that I was not more mature and wise–and less wounded–to make peace with my parents.
Moving forward, I love what you’re doing with your art (as usual). The tree of life is very symbolic and meaningful to me, so I’m excited for you as you work on creating space to make more gorgeous art to share with the world around you. I send love and best wishes to you from this southern neighbor (I got my fix of Rick Mercer reruns this weekend, and highly recommend him as a cure for almost anything–if not grief and loss, than perhaps shattered glass:) ). I’m going by “Fleur” now…can’t remember who I was when last we were chatting…old age, eh? <3
It is great to hear from you! I remember your love of Rick Mercer and I agree he is always good for a laugh. I am just starting to refocus more on my art and hopefully good things are going to come from that.
Thank you so much for your kind words and sharing your story. In my situation, there was nothing I could have done to reconcile or make peace with things, because believe me I tried everything, so it may not have mattered if you were different, they may not have been in a place where they could make peace with the hurt they caused. Tangled yarn is a good metaphor to describe family for me as well.
I love the new name and blog and look forward to catching up more now that I am back here on a regular basis! I hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer! Love the new name!
It’s wonderful to hear from you–you’re so sweet, and a marvelous artist. My heart goes out to everyone with tangled family issues–so hurtful, sometimes leaving scars… Perhaps that’s why we’re given creative talent–it provides a place to put things, like a mosaic–whether made of words, or glass or pottery.
I know I must sound so silly about Rick M, but I checked the schedule and next weekend we’ll have a 4-hr “Mercer Marathon”–yippeeeeee!
Take good care of YOU–make space and time for rest, as you need it. Much love, “Fleur”
Thank you so much for your kind words. I always appreciate hearing from you! I agree that creativity is an outlet and gift we are given with much healing power.
I understand your love of Rick M. – he is one of the funniest people we have here in Canada 😉
Thank you and much love to you!
Sending hugs from the States 🙂 <3
I can relate to all this as I’m doing exactly the same – well, not exactly, it won’t be near as beautiful as yours. Tough ripping out something I’d built 10 years ago but I hope the future will repay the effort. Love the window.
Thanks so much for your kind words and I am sure whatever you do will be very beautiful! I have found the effort to be well worth it! I hope you are having a great day and good luck with your project(s)!
Very nicely done!
Thanks so much Phil! I hope you are having a great week!
Everything about this is wonderful. The tree, the beach glass, the making of it…truly inspiring and heartwarming. I hope you are well 😉
Thank you so much for your kind comment and words! I am doing better each day and hope you are having a fantastic start to your week!
Good to hear! I’m doing very well, thank you!
Your words lead me to a better place in just a short time of reading. I am encouraged to continue pushing no matter what. Thank you!
You are very welcome and thank you for your kind comment! I wish you much momentum and peace in your journey.
I love the way you turned around the broken and made it beautiful! Also I’m very attatched to the images of Gingko leaves right now! So I totally get the tree imagery. Keep on reaching! And what better to embrace you, than a tree?
Thank you! I love that you are also enthralled by the imagery of plants too. Nature is pretty amazing and inspiring. Gingko is such a beautiful plant with so many healing properties, so a very good plant to be attached too.
I hope you are having an amazing and beautiful day!
Beautiful post, beautiful tree of life ❤️.
Thank you so much for your kind comment Doree!
Good post. Like a majestic tree firmly rooted in the earth but with it’s crown in the clouds ever reaching for the eternal light!
Thanks for my next post!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment and for reading my post! Head in the clouds, feet rooted in the ground. That is the way I strive to be, with varying degrees of success.
I hope you have a great week ahead.
Trees are magically healing – way to stay strong through your grief.
Thank you! I agree, being like a tree has helped me through this and continues to do so, I hope you are having a wonderful start to your week!
Beautifully said. It is inspiring to see others such as your self turn something so beautiful from something broken.
Thank you so much for your kind and beautiful comment. I really enjoy making things, so I feel lucky to have the opportunity to do so!
Such a positive spin on an unfortunate situation. Wish you all the best xXx
Thank you so much for your kind comment! I hope you have had a spectacular weekend!
I love what you’ve shared, very beautifully inspiring! Trees are so kind and gracious, I like your analogy of growth and hope❤️
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment. Trees have always amazed and inspired me. There is something magical about them.
You’re very welcome. I love trees, they give so much and ask for so little, a little rain and sun for free: shelter/shade, air detoxification and beauty. I used to sit under a favorite Maple tree as a child, when I was sad, the tree was like a friend.
that’s a very beautiful memory. I am sure you hold it close to your heart and revisit it when you need it. I continue to have certain trees that are special to me to this day.
thank you, yes the memory still comforts me, trees are gentle friends
What an absolute lovely piece of glass work, great post too👍🤗
thank you! I am glad you enjoyed both of them 🙂
What a pretty post! Lovely fauna and flora <3
Thank you! I really needed to read this. Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and comment. I really appreciate that.
My pleasure
I strive to turn a negatives into positives in my life, it a great philosophy. I love the symbolism of the tree!
To me it is the only philosophy that seems to work, otherwise life gets too heavy. Trees seem to speak to my soul. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Thank you for following me today because it led me to this beautiful blog and all your posts. You are so creative and I love your tree of life. Beautiful. I am a fan.
Thank you so much for your very kind words and taking the time to take a look at my work. I really appreciate that 😉 I hope your Monday is off to a great start!
your thought; word; art and creativity are amazing- thnq for the awesome share!
https://ruparaoruminates.wordpress.com/
Thank you so very much for your very kind words! I hope you are having a wonderful week so far!
Love the window. There’s a sandstone tree of life carving on the wall outside the museum where I’m working. I’ll take a photo of it for another blog post.
Thank you! I would love to see it when you do end up taking a picture of it! I find that to be a very powerful and profound symbol.
Beautifully spoken words Anand Bose from Kerala.
Thank you so much Anand. I hope you are having a marvelous week!
Very positive and full of life, but in grief, nothing works, no hopes, no light.
I think there is always hope. Grief is one of the most difficult things to process, but I am working hard to deal with my feelings and do good things for others. For me, it makes a difference.
What a great reminder in living, breathing, and experiencing all that life throws our way. To be rooted is to be grounded, steadfast, and persistent in what’s before you, around you and most importantly in you. I enjoyed reading your piece. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for your very kind and thoughtful comment! Being grounded allows me the opportunity to be still in the chaos when it comes 😉
Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I enjoyed the post, and appreciate the work you are doing.