In honor of Donnie Mills, our brave brother

 Masterpieces Created

The threads of each day become a melded creation that we hang on the walls of our lives for all to see. Some of these works of art are quickly manifested, be them joyous or fearful. Be them a dark dive into the realm of the unknown, a time when we do not know if we shall ever return to the surface. If we will ever break the waves and breathe the life giving oxygen of health and clarity again. These are the times when we learn to value, cherish and be so grateful for the peace and beauty that a life can bestow upon us.

Then, there are the times of pure, unadulterated JOY! The birth of our scions, the love found when we had almost given up. The discovery of a family that was always there yet unseen, and is now ever strong and growing. The support and constant awareness of our deity, our God, our Goddess, our nature. No matter how rapidly these moments pass us by, they are forever engraved in the pleasure center of our brains, and are available as a strong hold, a stepping stone to the next phase in our lives.

Some creations take years, decades, lifetimes to be revealed, accepted, processed, healed and finally painted in all their synergistic glory onto the canvas. All the shadows, light and half light moments being honored carefully in their proper placement within the landscapes of our memories.... a time line viewed in the hills and valleys of the Earth, or the faces of our subjects. Brushstrokes made with utmost care, our vulnerability contained within each one.

When we weave all of these threads and energies of time's cycles together, masterpieces are created. We hang them all ever so carefully in the museum of our existence and show them to others as we reveal ourselves in kinship. Often we find similarities in our artwork, yet we will always be the master painters of our own destinies, our own experiences, our own life's art collection.

I love you, Donnie, brave one.....who has overcome so much, and reveled in more, sharing it with us all the way along the road we travel that is this life. May you shine on and continue to share that light with us even from the periodic depths you will face. Let it shine so we can see you, and you know we are always there to offer our hands to pull you up.