"Two Solitudes"

acrylic on canvas, framed, image is 30" x 40"

I am an avid birder. My love affair began over 30 years ago with a pair of pileated woodpeckers in my back yard. It was love at first sight. There is something so ugly-beautiful about them. They seem reminiscent of a much older, wilder time in the natural world. Watching them all these years, I have come to see them as my own personal totem. I've had amazing encounters with them--especially the pileated, so when I see them I have learned to pay attention. The birds have come to represent for me, the emotional delicacy needed to achieve balance not only in our outward male/female relationships, but also with the equally powerful, inner male and female. The health of the inner one predicating the health of the outer. It is not lost on me that the symbolic meaning of woodpeckers is about finding the power of our own rhythms and flight in the world, signifying that the foundation is there to support us when we do. They also represent secrecy and the inner world from their habit of nesting deep in the interiors of trees.

When we are uniquely ourselves, being who we are, doing what we do, we create a solitude that is enriching and nourishing. This richness of person we can then invite someone else to enjoy. When they do and we enjoy them back, we create between us, a rich beautiful place of balance. It isn't always easy, sometimes it is impossible. But when it happens it expands our understanding of what love is meant to be.