I am completely clueless as to why my child decided to take a piece of pottery that I've had for years and smash it on the sidewalk. Autism comes with its particularities. Notions arise spontaneously. I have to always be on the lookout. Suffice it to say, I was not looking out. No. Not until I opened the door for the UPS man did I see the shattered pieces of clay.
Everything has meaning to me.
I've tried to give less and less significant to the material things in my life and I'm proud to say I've made gains but there is something about art ~ paintings, pictures, sculptures, music ~ that holds deep relevance for me. This piece of shattered clay was no different. On the ground lay the moments when I saw it, fell in love with it and took it home with me. What had been a beautiful semi-sphere of loveliness was now just a collection of odd shapes on the ground. Not knowing what else to do, I took a cleansing breath and accepted it. This was its form now. It looked completely different from what it had been. So, I embraced it. I wasn't angry. I wasn't hurt. I wasn't disappointed. And upon acceptance, one word passed across my thoughts: Mosaic. Then a next thought: Your hands on it. Then a clear thought: Create a deeper meaning.
We are creators. It is core to our nature. Even in the destruction of my precious pottery, my son was creating an understanding of cause and effect (I guess I'm not as clueless as I thought). And creation is nothing if it is not cause and effect. So...
I'm making a mosaic.* Which, I've always wanted to do.
*It should be noted that I do not know how the hell to do this but learning will be part of the fun!
