“To know exactly where you are headed may be the best way to go astray.”
Sue Monk Kidd
This pot started off as a mug, and then the handle fell off. Instead of forcing the handle back on, something new emerged. First I added a roof, then a top hat and a chimney, along came a door and windows. The final addition was star cut-outs for candle light to come through. The originally intended mug transformed into a hobbit house.
I shared this pot during a session with my spiritual director, and we talked about how this piece symbolizes my own transitional journey from a chaplain to a potter. For a long time, I was headed down one path, and I thought I knew exactly where I was going – I was going to work as a chaplain, to walk along side others as they faced the dark valleys of life. But after working as a hospice chaplain for a few years, I finally admitted to myself that as much as I loved the premise of this work, the practical daily activities of the job went against my natural grain which made it challenging and exhausting, to say the least. So I left a career I worked really hard for.
I stepped into the unknown for the well-being of my spirit. I had no idea what would come next. After a couple years of quietness, and of just being, and many hikes along the Oregon coast, I found pottery which unleashed the creative spark of joy deep within me. I realized that pottery could also be a meaningful way to share my inner light of love.
The potter emerged like the hobbit house emerged from the mug. When I look at this piece which sits on the windowsill in my living room, I look back with gratitude on where I’ve been and feel joy for where I am today. What I try to carry forward is to hold the future vision of my path very lightly so the next thing to emerge has an easier way out. May we all have open hearts to allow for change and growth, and for the unexpected.
