As we go into the first year of our shop on July 28, we take the time to reflect on all the things that we have learned and all the things that we have done to grow at Illumination Forest. As the founder of an independent brand, it has been such a journey of learning and growing.
New chapters are not always what we expect. Sometimes they work out the way that we envision, and sometimes they lead us to moments of falling, moments of learning new skills to get there, and moments of realizing that the next steps are in the ability to be present with what’s in front of you.
With new chapters also come transitions, and transitions aren’t always easy. As a yoga teacher, I learned that physically and emotionally, what makes transitions harder is clinging to the same narratives from the past. What also makes them harder is being afraid to fall. Like in a yoga pose, sometimes you have to fall so that your body remembers how not to fall, or sometimes you have to learn how to fall correctly.
When I think about that from an emotional or psychological standpoint, I think that also means that in the moments where you feel like you’re falling, you know how to do so instead of falling flat on your face or taking people down with you.
That’s why, at Illumination Forest, my art reflects nature and the ways that nature projects itself. To make art, it’s not always about following the methods that you learned before. Sometimes that can lead to the same results, when nature and creation are meant to be complex, not diluted.
I realize that nature every day looks different when you look up at the sky, the ways that the clouds shine or don’t shine, whether it’s dark or open skies, or whether the canopies are covering it while you take in the shade from the beautiful solstice sun.
I think it’s about knowing that in your transitions and new chapters, it’s OK to think differently. It’s OK to be different, and at Illumination Forest, we’re excited to bring more of that into the next year.
Cheers to new chapters.
-Illumination Forest
