Of the many things in this life for which I am grateful, the two that currently come to mind are my spiritual practice (and the healing and community it has provided), and the afternoons I get to spend out in the garage chipping away at a billet of wood, trying to uncover the treasure hidden inside it.

It’s important to remember that these two things aren’t necessarily unrelated.

The rough-cut spoon in the picture above comes from a Cherry tree on a property in Pennsylvania where I’ve danced and prayed; laughed and sweat. Like the sap in the wood, these experiences have soaked deeply into my bones. They’ve nourished me. And they’ve shaped my life in ways my linear mind could never have imagined.

It’s not so much a matter of planning as it is a product of surrender; a willingness to step aside and allow something unintended to happen simply because it feels right. There’s more at work here than hand and mind and eye. There’s a deep-down shaping that can only be accomplished by heart and soul and Spirit – and even then, the material must be ready.

Having left most of its billet behind, the spoon is currently resting in the wood chips. It’ll wait there – patiently – for the next round of work to shape it into something a bit more viable…