YOU ARE NOT A DROP IN THE OCEAN, YOU ARE THE ENTIRE OCEAN IN A DROP. Rumi

My daughter, Celia, took a photography class in her junior year in high school. And this is one of my favorite photos she made. Not because my daughter created it which I do think is awesome. It’s one of my favorite things because of everything it says to me. This is a photo of me (left) and my ex-husband’s wife, Paula (right). My daughter melded two photographs together to make one. A metaphor, possibly, for her world?

Celia’s dad and I were divorced when she was in first grade. We worked through all the heartache and the animosity and the sharing of time and holidays and the sharing of accomplishments and failures and the sharing, the sharing, the sharing. The sometimes exhausting, sometimes trying but always necessary sharing. I sometimes thought we were different from other families – a little broken, undone, and in need of fixing. But when I look at this, I see two women that my daughter loves. Two women living parallel lives at opposite ends of the what could be the same kitchen table. Two women balancing work and family. I see the sameness, the wholeness and I see us just being. I see two women who now share a love for my daughter and her brothers.

I am grateful for this photo to remind me of who I am at my core; and every time I look at it I am reminded of one of my favorite Rumi quotes: You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.