Coming Home ...the still point of a turning world

Coming Home ...the still point of a turning world

My friend, Pam, is living with ALS. She lives her life with humor, courage and perseverance. She does not make ALS the center of her life. I find great inspiration in her optimistic philosophy. I made this piece to honor the love-of-life Pam models for me.

Pam seems to live in that place the poet, TS Elliott called the still point of the turning world ... where past and future are gathered ... the point that, like the center of a turning wheel, remains quiet, meditatively motionless, yet is really the origin of the dance, the beginning of movement. Though she cannot leap up and dance, or go rock climbing, or run a marathon, Pam (aka Batman) truly embodies the still point of a turning world .... she is the origin of the dance.

That still point of a turning world ... that place at the very center of being, is also a home, a sanctuary, a place in our hearts we can find solace and clarity when life stops making sense. It is a touchstone; the center of a flower; the burning point in the middle of the sun; the beating pulse of light and air, flame and sea, turning in circles around us.

One can be far from the physical geographic place we call home, yet still be home in that still point. Or one can be confined to the physical home yet find comfort and sanctuary in a more expansive place -- in one's imagination, in expression, in compassion, in reaching out to others, in friendship. Inside the heart. Where physical abilities are irrelevant. I can only hope to create this kind of place for myself someday. Pam lives in both places: the home she shares with her husband, family and friend Barb ... and the home she shares with the rest of us, through her friendship, artistic expressions and poetry.

Pam, may you live long and may your heart prosper.