Polka-dot gum leaves?
I’ve never before noticed them. I haven’t been paying attention.
Perfect Imperfection 1
I walk up the hill to the enchanted forest on my friend’s property. The knotted rope of my bodymind begins to untangle after a hectic time.
Perfect Imperfection 2
A personalised mantra for the day emerges: My main job is to relax.
I am momentarily freed from responsibilities of elder-care, both in my personal world and in my art therapy professional world.
Perfect Imperfection 3
I relearn how to breathe.
That is, I remind myself, it is safe to slow down and sigh. The world will not collapse because I’ve given myself permission to fully inhale and exhale. Geez. I must have been stressed.
I walk up the hill. One bright yellow leaf stands out from the dark soil. It’s spotted. Kind of splotched, like a painting. Polka-dot gum leaves? I’ve never before noticed them. Could the dots be caused by disease? Are they a natural part of the ageing process? I am so ignorant about biology – about most ologies, really.
Perfect Imperfection 4
this one is even heart-shaped. divine.
The spots are unevenly, imperfectly placed. I find this beautiful. Don’t wise people talk about the perfection of imperfection? Well, here it is.
More polka-dot leaves appear.
I gather them.
I have a creative impulse. I will arrange these leaves somehow. Squiggly patterned and bi-coloured leaves join the flock.
Perfect Imperfection 5
Not one of the leaves is perfect.
They are scarred, torn, lop-sided. They are breaking down, beginning their ground-based decomposition after living the high life.
I place them. I experiment. Leaf by leaf, dot by dot, they come together in new formations.
Perfect Imperfection 6
I celebrate each leaf,
severally and collectively.
Even old leaves can form new patterns. Even dying leaves, separated from their prime source of vitality and community, can express life.
Perfect Imperfection 7
This is the nature of nature, of living-and-dying cycles, of art therapy in residential aged care.
Perfect Imperfection 8
Is it any wonder the book I am working on is called ‘Leaf by Leaf’?
Tell me your stories
about the perfection of imperfection.
with love, art and soul from Sally
Art and Soul Space 