A few years ago, I was sitting at an industrial table at the art studio of a friend. I had decided that I wanted to experience a new (for me) art form. I had never made a mosaic and thought it would be fun and test my ability to patiently create over time, rather than have immediate gratification. It did both. I gathered together pieces of multi-colored glass and grout to secure them and glaze them. I was guided by a young art therapist who used her expertise to get me started. I decided that I wanted it to be both random and patterned; like my life.

The first round had me placing the fragments and then covering them with the thick mud-like substance. It didn’t look pretty at first, but I knew that eventually it would sink between the cracks and once it dried,  I could wipe it off the top of the glass and the color would shine through. It took something like three weeks for me to complete the project and take it home where it now graces a half dome window in my living room. When the sun shines through it, I feel a sense of pride in how it is a prism and a profound reminder of the spiritual concept: ‘No mud, no lotus’ or in this case, ‘No mud, no mosaic.’

Recently, a friend posted a meme on his Facebook page that spoke of  being broken by life experiences. It occurred to me that all of us have fragmented parts of ourselves that may never be put back together in the way they were. Coming from loss, death, relationships shifting and changing form, illness, injury, financial limitations, natural disasters, wars, violence … we are faced with on a daily basis, a mixture of these life events. We are always at choice about how we piece together the shards. I responded that I am creating a mosaic out of my broken pieces. I choose to see them as the rainbow array of components that combine into a new form. May the sun always shine brilliantly through them.