Blog Archives - trish hermanson

My Wabi-Sabi Pot

8/26/2021

I’m holding a pot crafted by my friend Chris, who was thrown off the wheel of life and lay on the ground like a lump of wet clay, her dreams, her marriage, her family, and her heart all broken.
     But that’s not the end of her story.
     Chris picked up each bit of damp clay and climbed back onto the potter’s wheel. It took years of work, sometimes letting go of pieces of her life, sometimes seeing pieces come together. Now she’s taken on a new shape, one she calls “wabi-sabi.” That’s a Japanese term describing that true beauty reveals itself among imperfections. Cracks, chips, and irregularities all provide authenticity. I see this in Chris. Not in spite of her hardships, perhaps because of them, she lives with contentment and freedom she never experienced before.
As a ceramic artist, Chris says, “My pots aren’t perfect, but hopefully artful with personality.” I treasure this one she gave me with feet she added when "it didn’t set just right.” This encourages me that even when I don’t set just right, I can still be artful with personality. And I can recognize beauty in others even with their flaws.
  Someday all of life's clay will be refashioned perfectly. The Master Potter, Jesus, will create a new Earth with all the fallen pieces re-formed. Until then, I keep climbing onto his potter’s wheel to be reshaped, as this song describes.

When Dreams Collide with Reality

8/7/2021

Have you noticed that dreams don’t always come true?
     For example, I’ve yearned to see Stonehenge, that ancient circle of rock pillars in England, but the opportunity never arose. So Duane and I recently trekked to an American version - Carhenge.
     It’s a humorous imitation outside Alliance, Nebraska in the size, shape, and proportions of Stonehenge. Through “blood, sweat, and beers,” creator Jim Reinders says he and his family arranged thirty-nine vintage automobiles in a circle, some buried trunk-end down to create columns, others welded above to form arches. While Stonehenge represents a civilization four thousand years ago, Carhenge represents our American civilization with our love of mobility.
     But Carhenge symbolizes much more to me. It reminds me that we don’t always get what we want. I longed to see ancient stone pillars, I got crazy car columns. Among my other desires, I’ve dreamed of a pristine home pictured in “House Beautiful.” Mine is lovely, yet gathers dust bunnies I could trip over. I’ve yearned for perfect friends, but I get people as quirky as me. I’ve fantasized romantic love, but I get someone who needs forgiveness as much as I do. The contrast between my idealized notions and stark reality is like the contrast between Stonehenge and Carhenge. One is an unrealized dream. The other is reality. And if I don’t embrace what comes my way, I miss out, because the real deal may be as good as, sometimes even better, than the fantasy.
  It may be even as wacky as Carhenge.