Cannot each piece simply be a prayer to life?

I was very disappointed to not be able to take a vision quest to Peru this month due to personal circumstance. I had high expectations of this journey helping to restore my inner balance and connect with my spiritual self. Rather by accident I began working on clay and the rewards have been amazing in regard to personal heart and soul work. I’m beginning to understand  a little more when I hear from people that working with clay can reawaken your connection to the earth–and your spiritual self.

The question we are told to ask when beginning a new piece is “Are you the potter or the clay?”..not always an easy one to answer. If we think that clay is a metaphor for  life it begins to make some sense. It really does offer many opportunities for transformation. Clay was also one of the first art forms for humans and is considered a sacred element of the earth. The whole process for me at this time is beautiful and feels like I’m meditating while rolling, kneading and shaping.

What appeals to me about this art form is each piece is unique and that each creation is a result of how I felt that day and it is truly lifting me up. It’s all quite mysterious and magical.

Cannot each piece simply be a prayer to life?

copyright Es-tee Miller

“I am being formed by the clay. I am reconnecting with the earth, and with the other basic elements, too–air, water, fire–and life itself. Every gesture leaves its trail in the clay. Every fingerprint, a message. My breath fills the cavity. My touch curves the wall of a bowl. And inwardly, I am being formed by the outward practice. I am learning to trust the process, to lean into the possibilities rather than striving for some predetermined goal. I am being hollowed out, stretched and constricted, trimmed and sometimes reworked entirely.”…Marjory Zoet Bankson