Once you've had your initial insights, go deeper.
Thanksgiving
So uplifting are the delicate colours of this pincherry bush in Massachusetts that I feel reluctant to contaminate the experience of it with any kind of direction. But, at a minimum, you probably want to know where this photograph was taken and what is the meaning of this place.
Before I present the story, let me ask "How does this image make you feel?
How do pastel colours affect you differently than bright, bold, saturated colours?
Which part of your inner landscape does this picture mirror?
How do you react?
What does the photograph make you want to do? At this moment? Today? For the rest of your life? What would you want to do if you were there, in that setting, standing beside the pincherry leaves?
Pay attention particularly to your emotional responses, and if possible to what period, time, or event in your life of which this image is a reminder. Allow yourself to be there -- in the scene or back to an earlier time in your life when you felt this way. This is a chance to reaquaint yourself with that part of yourself that you have forgotten about.
Perhaps, like me, this image brings you a sense of bliss and a feeling of thanksgiving. Actually the scene was photographed not far from Plymouth, Massachusetts, the place of America's first Thanksgiving! Perhaps the pincherry leaves, resplendent in their autumn colours helped to adorn the horn of plenty on the first Thanksgiving table. Although celebrated sporadically over the next century and a half following the first event in 1621, Thanksgiving eventually became a national institution in both the United States and Canada.
Now it is a reminder not only of the gifts of the earth, and the nourishing qualities of the land, but also of the spirit of common heritage. Pilgrims and Native Americans spent three days of feasting and celebration together honoring the earth and the traditions that each culture brought to the banquet tables.
Maybe this is the time to be reminded of the common heritage we all share as stewards of Planet Earth, and the importance of her gifts to our lives. How connected we would feel if everyday was a celebration of Thanksgiving.
