The story of the little leaf

Before I met him, this little leaf used to live in the park across the road from my work. After a particularly sweltering heat wave in the Summer of 2013 he broke off the branch and dwindled to the ground. Once on the ground a slight breeze caught him, and lifted him across the busy road where he managed to avoid getting crushed by passing cars, busses, bicycles and feet. The breeze carried him a bit further where he landed right in front of my work’s entrance way. A short while later I strolled back to work after lunch. My eye caught the interesting colours of the leaf, I bent to pick it up and brought it inside. I went around the office showing the leaf to my co-workers. We all admired the interesting colours, and wondered about the circumstances that had created these colours well before the arrival of Autumn. Needless to say, we were all very impressed with the swirls, patterns and colour combinations. Even though he was a bit fragile, I decided to keep him. I carefully placed him in tissue paper before placing him between the pages of a book. I then pressed him for several months beneath a bunch of heavy books. With the turning of autumn leaves in the last few weeks I was again reminded to have a look and see what he looked like. He was now pressed flat and dry, but even more fragile than before. If I was going to keep him he would need to be handled with care. I decided that he would look lovely framed in my office and placed him in a beautiful Tasmanian Huon Pine frame that  a kindly work colleague had given me as a birthday present the year before.  I think you would agree that he looks absolutely gorgeous! He serves as a reminder that we often don’t have to look very far for inspiration, and that nature is a wonderful source for firing the imagination. There are a few lessons that this little leaf has taught me:

o   Sometimes it’s worth taking note of the little things in life

o   Often its good sharing this with those around you  

o   Always it’s good to look towards nature for creative inspiration

 

What are your thoughts about nature as a source for creativity?

 

Cheers,

Karin

xox