Dragonfly: Finding Gratitude in a Clay Pot

Reflections on the unexpected, sacred vessel that elevated my spirit from the depths of grief, fear and despair, into the fragile light of hope.

I came to the garden with many burdens.

As I sat on the little wooden bench, my attention was first drawn to the multitude of leaves on the ground, all around me.

Many leaves like many burdens.

I found myself quickly weeping in the stillness. 

Sitting with my burdens. With the leaves. 

Sensing I was safe. That this was a refuge where my heart could open to the Spirit. To say the hurts. The fears. There was room for this just as there was room for all the leaves. The ground was solid and damp beneath my feet, ready to absorb my energy. To hold me.

Then my eyes were drawn upward.

The clouds had shifted slightly and a ray of sunshine peered over my shoulder. 

It cast light out in front of me.

Light on the leaves. 

Light on the few remaining remnants of the garden my neighbors tended this spring and summer (for which I am now more grateful than ever.)

And… the light shone on this sweet little clay pot.

The small pot captured my imagination.

I wonder who placed this little gift here? Who was it that was inspired to place this cute piece of art in this specific space?

I wonder who made it?...

It was originally just the light that had captured my senses. The light was gift enough. Light that broke through on my burdens. On the leaves. Warmth that came over my shoulders while I had been sitting in the shadows. Emptying my feels.

But the light led me to the pot…

And the sweet little pot led me to the dragonfly.

When I first got up to go get a picture of the pot, it was purely an attempt to capture how the light shone on the pot, in relationship to the sacred ground upon which it sat, and to the colors of the plant life surrounding it. 

But when I walked back over to the bench to sit and reflect further is when my attention was drawn to the creature the artist chose to adorn the vessel.

What was it?

I wasn’t paying attention when I was over there…

Oh! It’s a dragonfly…

Now that my attention was focused in, I was appreciating the spirit of the dragonfly at the heart of the pot.

The golden yellow was radiating from it, against the lovely blue background.

Perfect contrast. 

I loved it.

My curiosity then beckoned me further in.

I turned to my friend Google to satisfy the question that had arisen:

I wonder what the dragonfly represents?

Here’s what I learned:

I was fully taken aback. 

Fully unprepared to meet the gorgeous spirit of the dragonfly.

But I suddenly found myself in a sacred moment.

One of those moments where all the fibers of life are rapidly interconnecting in my mind and body. Fully overcome by this holy discovery. 

Transformed by the magic of the dragonfly.

Who knew!

I reflected on the countless times I’ve been witness to the magic of the dragonfly… now in awe that they have always been around me. They’ve always been there. In their gorgeous beauty and radiance. 

But what I had never realized until this encounter is that I am the dragonfly.

We are one.

The dragonfly understands me - to my core.

What it has taken to allow my life to come fully undone.

To survive in the water growing up - but not to drown, or be consumed.

To change. 

To be transformed.

Becoming my true self.

Finding Jonathan.

In the depths. In the mental and emotional maturity (working through the trauma), and discovering life’s deeper meaning.

I think this morning I found my Spirit animal.

She is a part of my new beginning.

I’m finding she brings me joy and happiness in a moment I am fighting through profound grief, fear and despair.

She gives me hope.

We’re gonna make it.

But we must stay connected.

To one another. To the land, its creatures and its bounty. To the Spirit which binds all things together into one Life. One Love.

In a season where we’re called into gratitude, I was struggling immensely to locate it.

You may be too. 

Goddamn do I get it.

I feel you, and I’m with you.

For me, today, for now, for this moment, for this year, I was given a gift.

A seemingly ordinary clay pot that offered me extraordinary transformation.

Before I left the garden, I knelt at my altar. 

I laid hands on this sacred work of art.

I felt its connection to the ground. 

I expressed my gratitude for my neighbor. Unsure who, exactly. But I felt them. I expressed my gratitude for them. For the spark that they tended to in placing this vessel in this exact space. My neighbor had no way to know how deeply their act of simple joy and adornment would reach my soul. 

I’m so grateful for my neighbor.

And I’m profoundly grateful to the potter.

Whether this sacred piece of artistry came from the hands of my neighbor, or from another creator who chose the muse.

As an artist, I’m learning how profoundly difficult it can be to allow yourself to create.

The uncertainty that your tiny piece of work is worth it.

The battle of the mind, the pressures of society… am I wasting time? Being foolish? Does my work matter…

To the potter who crafted this profound vessel:

Thank you.

My God.

Thank you for working.

For making.

For the clay on your hands, as it spun on the wheel. 

The vision in your mind.

The colors in your heart as you carefully gave illumination to your piece of work.

It’s perfect.

It’s important. 

It’s sacred.

It has changed me.

And it may change others.

I feel you.

I see you.

And I am profoundly grateful to you.

You have helped me see.

You have helped me breathe. Survive. Hold on for hope.

I’m so grateful to you.

Don’t stop. 

Don’t stop.

Keep creating.

Keep that breath of Life flowing through your hands, your heart, your wheel.

We are one, and your dragonfly has found its embodiment in my spirit.

We will go far together.

Thank you for this beautiful gift. 

To each of you, my beloved, my hope for you is that you will discover a small thing this week to root yourself in. Something that can spark a small joy, a small gratitude.

But even if that’s not the case - as I know right now feels impossible - I hope you will join me in gratitude to my artist friend.

Whoever they are.

Wherever they are.

Help me thank them.

Help me let them know that they’re beautiful and their work has immeasurable worth.

And, if you will, join me in my 

Gratitude to the dragonflies.

We see you.

We are grateful for you.

You’re gorgeous. You are pure gift to us.

And we long for your wisdom and spirit.

Is there a small thing you’ve discovered to be grateful for this year?

Do YOU have a spirit creature that you share life with?!

Let me know in the comments. I’d love to glean from your wisdom!