I chose a piece of wood that was so rotted, it crumbled in my hands. Ants had once made their home in it but have moved on. I had to part the moss growing on it just to take a piece. The bright green of the moss on the decay was what drew me in. I didn’t have to look at it long before I knew why I was drawn in.

Death is not permanent, and from it comes a new life. Just because someone or something is gone, does not mean that all they leave is pain, loss and rot. New life will take root where they once were and their life, their memories and their presence will nourish the soil and stand where only rot once was. It made my heart ache because it was what I needed to see that day. I needed to know, I needed to see. Knowing that even nature loses and regains, that it is part of us in every way, just as it is part of Mother Earth.