Desconsos

Desert desconsos.

On the last day of December, I created a desconsos shrine as a way to put some of my long-carried burdens to rest.  Using a large votive luminary, images and words were glued to the clear glass.  Working quickly, symbols of things that seemed to remain in my field of unawareness jumped out of magazines and article headlines.  I forgot that I was carrying regrets, resentments and related restlessness.  Using the candle as ritual and ceremony,  the candle was lighted.  The burning flame allowed a gentle release of the old bitterness, grief and disappointments.  I imagined that a light was being placed onto a future.

The candle is burned out, but the symbol of release remains.  The desconsos was planted in the desert within a half mile of where I initially landed, from Wisconsin, in 1999.  This particular desert is the place I fled to during a particularly difficult physical and emotional time in my life.  I set the shrine to be covered with dust, wind and the sands of time.  

This is my desconsos.

Place of rest: desconsos.