Change and Woodcarving

Change. It's a big word with deep meaning behind it. It can be great, like introducing a puppy into your life or finding your dream career. It can be bad, like losing your job. If you look for it in bad or good, change creates beauty. Definitions of what is good and bad will change as you do. What once was great, like your first boyfriend, isn't so amazing now. However, it is those lasting effects from people and circumstances that produce the beautiful changes you can see in yourself.

To me, the most difficult aspect of change is being okay and dealing with it appropriately. It is hard. Really hard, sometimes. Even the positive changes suck. The important thing is learning how to deal with changes inside and outside of your control. Change will make you better if you let it work, even if you didn't want to change in the first place. Sometimes the unplanned changes are the best. For those hard things that make me want to give up, my mom always tells me that "you can only control yourself. Never mind what anyone else is doing." 

It's a good lesson that can help ease life transitions. You're going to change. You may as well make the most of it.

Some of the most incredible physical changes I have seen are in a park along a beautiful passage of water. You can tell that they've gone through a lot. Sometimes they don't look so great. Sometimes they're spectacular.

Wood Carving is an amazing and undervalued art, in my opinion. That a person can take a chainsaw to a piece of tree and create something so detailed in its beauty is astounding to me. The water front of Campbell River creates a natural backdrop to these organic works of art. We perused a couple dozen of these carvings. They range from novice to professional but each possesses its own charm and character.

It all begins with this. A huge chunk of cedar or fir around three metres tall, covered in bark, just waiting to become something incredible. The artist looks at this plain log and sees the potential. He begins with simple cuts, progresses to create the idea, then executes his final designs to complete his work of art. It's quite a stunning process that I was able to silently watch in the park by the sea.

A walking path behind the carvings follows the passage of water. Lining the path are various wood carvings from past years. The wind, rain, snow, and sun have changed them. These changes have only served to increase their beauty. The character these pieces showcase is striking.

Change really can be beautiful. My visit to the park really showed me the potential for good in every situation.

How have changes in your life made your life more beautiful?