The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

On one of the worst days of my life, as I made my way out of my charred art studio something beautiful caught my eye. The once bright white hallway now was dark and I felt scared and disoriented. I made my way out of my studio along with several fellow artists who had stepped up to help me try to rescue anything I could. We walked carefully and stumbled on debris while using the lights from our cell phones to lead us out of this space and back to clean air and safety. There had once been a wall, a door, and entire neighboring studio to my left as I made my way down the hall. Now just a gaping hole from the blast and scorched remains of what’s once my friends studio. He was my neighbor at the studios and we shared a wall. I was full of adrenaline and also in shock. I was trying to be brave, proactive, forward thinking but inside I felt frozen and completely heart broken. However, amidst the sorrow and devastation I caught a beam of light shining through a boarded up doorway that once lead outside to my neighbors studio deck. The beam of light was like a laser pointing directly into my once bright studio. It stopped me dead in my tracks. It gave me chills in that instant and I had to just stop and stare. Somehow, I felt comfort. A wave of peace washed over me. I pointed this image out to the artists who were there with me, helping me. We even joked for a moment despite our grief about how only an artist’s mind could find beauty in something so horrible. We all stood and gazed at this beautiful beam of light piercing the darkness.

Its been about three weeks since the bomb, the fire, the devastation that some days feels like a terrible nightmare. This photo continues to bring me hope. It may seem strange but I look at the devastation captured in this photo and I feel…hopeful.

This wound WILL heal and light WILL overcome darkness.

Of this I am certain.

The wound is the place where the Light enters you. - Rumi