A Resilient and Creative New Year!

I found my theme for the New Year:   Resilience and Creativity.

Hurricane Matthew, on its path up the Atlantic coast back in October, must have swept this large tree branch onto this South Carolina beach.  The hurricane caused quite a bit of destruction and flooding, as these powerful storms tend to do.

On a grey and dreary morning, this oversized driftwood looks broken and out of place…

…Like too many events in our human lives and within the political, economic, and environmental arenas.

What to do with the brokenness? with loss? displacement? with those inevitable setbacks and misfortunes that just cannot be undone?

When I returned to this tree later, just as the setting sun draped it in warm, golden colors, I noticed that a transformation had happened.

Look at what people did to this lost tree!

Someone had lovingly decorated this lonely, broken tree with treasures they found along the beach – shells, corals, sand dollars. They collected grasses to tie the ornaments to the tree, accessorizing and beautifying it with the gifts from the sea.

“Psychological resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to successfully adapt to life tasks in the face of social disadvantage or highly adverse conditions….Resilience is one’s ability to bounce back from a negative experience with “competent functioning”. Resilience is not a rare ability; in reality, it is found in the average individual and it can be learned and developed by virtually anyone.” Wikipedia

“Resilience is what gives people the psychological strength to cope with stress and hardship. It is the mental reservoir of strength that people are able to call on in times of need to carry them through without falling apart.”
(Kendra Cherry)

From the moment I saw it, this displaced tree symbolized resilience and overcoming adversity. Beyond resilience, it captures the spirit of creativity – objects that we do not normally associate as belonging together found a symbiotic union thereby transforming and evolving into a work of art.

The DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Resilient.