My collage...

We made collages that show who we are in Creative Writing. This is mine.

Clockwise from the top:

Apples:
This, this is what I wait for.
Song of Solomon 2: 3-7
"³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. ⁴ Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. ⁵ Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. ⁶ His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. ⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."

Whew, I need to catch my breath a little after that!

Green Mountains:
I am still young and green, but I've been built into by now. I've been sculpted a bit, in ways both beautiful and scarring. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I know it's part of who I am now.

A Clear "i":
I live my life transparently both here and with the people in my life. Remember that post that got people all up in arms? Yeah. No matter what, though, I'll always love and value blinding, painful, and absolute honesty. Coy is cute, vague is alluring, but honesty sticks. For reals.

Pomegranate:
An ancient Christian symbol of the fullness of Christ's suffering and resurrection. The transparency of the i comes from this, 'cause, uh, otherwise I wouldn't do it.

Blue Silk:
I am precious and intricately woven. A lot of things in my life [both people and situations] have done quite a number on my heart to make me constantly doubt that. From an offhanded comment made when I was 12 to years of prolonged appearance-anxiety fueled by a man [and that's not to say it was his fault. I really believe that the combination of my insecurities with his particular expectations were doomed from the outset] I felt uncomfortable in my skin for 25 years. It's still a work in progress, but now I always see more good than bad, and some days, if I'm really honest, there are times I look in the mirror and think Man, God. Good job. Is that vain? It probably is. Crap.

Slats and Lines:
Winter is my time. This was a painting I found in a magazine that represented the season of winter. Interestingly, I find fall to be my favorite season, but I was born in the winter. I grow the most in the winter. And I always emerge from the winter softer, newer, and ready for wiser. And I'm hoping that trend continues.

Blue Butterfly:
Not only do I emerge from the literal winter as a new woman, I've also emerged from a figurative winter recently. Now, this winter I've come from was not barren, dead, or cold--that's not the kind of winter I'm talking about. I'm talking about a time of challenge, of growth, of . . . oh my word, could I sound any more pretentious and metaphorical? You get the picture right, gentle reader? Of course you do! You're smart! You don't need to sit here and listen to me wax on poetic!

Paints:
The meaning of this is twofold:
1. I like color.
2. I like to put things in ROYGBIV order. Everywhere. All the time. If you look for it, you'll notice it.

Keri Strug:
What a moment of sacrifice and determination. I watched this live. It was amazing, and I've never forgotten it. She knew what needed to be done, and it wasn't about her. It wasn't for her own glory. It was for the glory of others. This is what I want my legacy to look like. And this is hard for me, the girl whose parents once bought her a T-shirt that said It's All About Me just for the heck of it. Yeah. I was that girl. I'm trying not to know her anymore.

Music:
Any moment a note a passing through my lips is a moment of incandescent joy. Anytime my fingers rest on the keys of a real piano [not a keyboard, mind you. Those aren't keys, psh] I feel a thrill of possibility, and my throat tingles in anticipation. I live to sing.

"Maturity is relative."
That pretty much explains itself, right?