+ Her Barefoot Heart

in praise of curves in the road

pasture1693

i rounded the curve
and spied a gorgeous sculpture
in the middle of the greening field.
i blinked
and the captivating sculpture
became
a mule
grazing.

from captivated and elated
to
disappointed and deflated
all in the space of
a few hundred feet.

then i remembered
something read
years after i left
pews and classrooms . . .
michaelangelo
said he created his
david
by removing all that
was not david.

and just like that
i was once again
captivated.

///

i’ve been pondering lately what it means to think independently.
and to value feeling as much as thinking.
and every now and then, i wonder what my life would be like
if i hadn’t been so strongly conditioned
that science rules,
that there is only one right answer,
that a mule eating is merely a mule eating
and not a work of art.

13 Comments

  1. Beth Hoffman

    Lovely and absolutely true!

    • whollyjeanne

      Thanks, Sugar. That means a lot coming from a fantabulous word slinger gal like you. (Trusting your fingers are in motion creating another delightful read.)

  2. Renae C

    Can we recondition ourselves and one another to see the art in the ass? Beautiful words Jeanne. I’m thinking alot about that conditioning lately myself.

    • whollyjeanne

      Renae, I sure hope we can recondition ourselves and in the act of reconditioning, provide a safe place for others to join us. So glad we’re on this journey together.

  3. Sarah

    sometimes the magic is in seeing what is right before our eyes, without making it into anything else. savoring even the turns and twists in our own idea of what we see, knowing there is no right answer just wonder after wonder.

    thanks for putting this out there for me to stumble upon.

    • whollyjeanne

      Ah, Sarah. Your wise words always wash over me, anoint me.

  4. jo miller

    Oh. Darlin’ I love reading your every nuance & insight. you take care. I personnaly think that a mule eating-pics can be taken, stories written, a happy ymoment that stiil imay provode a spark of writing or a most beautiful wrting ofpoetry or prose

    “and to value feeling more…And i wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn;t been so strongly conditioned that science works

    • whollyjeanne

      Thank you, Jo. This happened 2 days ago, and I just haven’t been able to shake the immediacy with which it all settled over me, into me, around me.

  5. Elizabeth Marie

    Going to be cryptic, but, honey pie, this: “michaelangelo
    said he created his
    david
    by removing all that
    was not david,”

    may just have helped me begin to break through a giant, tall, thick wall of my own making. May have. We’ll see. thank you!!!

    I’m glad to see you. Means the move didn’t devour you. 🙂

    • whollyjeanne

      I sense we, too, are on this journey together, asking similar questions; seeking similar waystations; pondering similar occurrences. We hold hands, you and I, pointing out things to each other, delighted in the sharing.

  6. writemuch

    love this… and as E.Marie said, you (and Michaelangelo) have shown me a whole new way to look at my writing

  7. Abigail

    Wow. Amazing structure.

    That can be a great picture of how we see the world, but also ourselves. Remove everything that isn’t the magnificent intended.

  8. Mrsmediocrity

    the things we take for granted, the things that we never even notice, until one day they become sculpture, art, something meaningful. it is seeing the ordinary as art that is the tricky part…

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