SUNDAY SLOWDOWN | The Soul Knows
“All art that is not mere storytelling, or mere portraiture, is symbolic, and has the purpose of those symbolic talismans which medieval magicians made with complex colours and forms, and bade their patients ponder over daily, and guard with holy secrecy; for it entangles, in complex colours and forms, a part of the Divine Essence”
- William Butler Yeats
Do you have a talisman or two in your life?
A symbolic thought or object of affection that you carry and hold close, that grounds you, guards you and reminds you of the magic and mystery of life. It can show up as a prayer, a reminder the gives us pause, that reconnects us back to ourself. It's something we use as daily protection, a good luck charm of sorts, infused with an intention of devotion, of beauty, of power beyond our being.
The golden gingko is that for me.
Growing up in a small township designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect who designed the iconic Central Park, there were rows of ginkgo trees on every island block. As a child, I was fascinated by the unusual shape of the resilient green leaves, in fall, fluttering to the sidewalk, leaving a golden path of beauty. I would pick a few up and put them in my pocket for safekeeping, as I still do today. A reminder that beauty is everywhere and especially in the small yet signficant offerings that nature brings.
As I walked out into the night at the High Museum of Art the other night, this ancient gingko greeted me, reminding me once again of the beautiful town I loved growing up in and how, even at a young age, our soul knows what captures the heart.
Listen and look for those symbols in your life, be them a talisman or simply a reminder to slow down and cherish a beautiful moment, a memory or treasure that has been put before your feet.
X Alisa