The beginning of the exhibit starts with a video about how he came to be a master Lego builder and the process he uses to build his creations. The first room is filled with famous paintings that he replicated using Legos: Mona Lisa, Starry Night and many more. Then a room of sculptures in Lego: David, the ceiling of the Cistene chapel. Next a room of common objects: an apple, a pencil, and table with fruit.
A couple more rooms of amazing art pieces separated that and the room titled "The Human Condition." This room proved to be difficult to walk through, and awe-inspiring all at the same time. The pieces were all people in various stages. A group of people standing together that, from a distance, made a picture of an eye. A person with their knees drawn up and their eyes covered talked about how children cover their eyes to feel safe. A man climbing a ladder that was physically attached to his head, stating that within every person is the ability to climb up and out of whatever on their own. And a picture of a red person on a gray background, with red pieces being blown away with a statement that said life blows through and chips away at all of us and we cannot let it take pieces of us with it. Tears and goosebumps and subtle pains in my heart as I stared at each one and took in the message. And then the thought that a blog post was happening spilled from my lips to my friend. And I shared with her that just that morning, I had been given the title "Piece By Piece"...and so goes the post.
Legos. Tiny little blocks. Mr. Sawaya took piles of little plastic blocks and started forming an object, telling a story, creating something that moved other people. Just like life. Life is filled with tiny moments, little snippets of time and experiences, telling a story and creating something that moves people.
Life! Piece by piece you make a life for yourself. Little moments in time weave together and soon you begin to see the beautiful tapestry that is the story of you! Smiles and tears. Laughter and crying. Brief scenes from your life. Being born. School. Church. College. Marriage. Kids. Divorce. Death. Little moments that are built together and when you step back, your masterpiece is there before you! A picture comes to focus of who you are, who you should be.
But, what happens when someone removes a piece? The museum workers at the beginning of the tour were very adamant about not touching the pieces. Carry your backpacks in the front so as to not accidentally bump into the pieces. Walk carefully. Watch your children. Because what if? What if someone were to bump the giant dinosaur that was made from 80,000 Lego pieces. What if someone removed one piece from the middle of The Scream? What would happen? The whole sculpture or the whole painting could be destroyed. It could tumble to the ground. And let's not mention how its value would diminish.
My masterpiece felt done a few times. I was on my way to being the most successful pediatric oncologist the world has ever seen (in my head). And then someone removed a piece of my masterpiece, my sculpture fell and shattered into a million pieces, and that dream vanished.
I started building a new sculpture, one with a husband and two children. And a piece was bumped out of place. The husband piece went missing. The work, in my eyes, had diminished value. Again this happened?! Why bother working so hard to rebuild life piece by piece to just have it destroyed in the blink of an eye.
The art of the brick. Having an eye for being able to build something so amazing with seemingly little effort. That is what I have been doing for the last six years. Finding the message in my mess. Finding the test in my testimony. Building my life back up, piece by piece. I could have given up. Switched to a different medium. Left my life in a pile of broken pieces on the floor. But I have fought to rebuild. To pick up piece after piece, look to see if they still fit into the big picture, and putting them back together. Some of them fit perfectly and get to stay. Some of them aren't helpful to the final product anymore and get discarded, not thrown away, but saved for perhaps another masterpiece down the road.
Piece by piece I am building life for me and my children again. It's not easy to rebuild after so many setbacks. It's sad and painful and you long to just have the masterpiece you had built last time. In a mere six minutes, the clock will stroke midnight and the calendar page will flip to August 5th. I should be celebrating what would have been my 10th wedding anniversary. I should be waking up to kisses from my husband and flowers being delivered at some point in the day. But instead, I'll be on my knees, sifting through pieces, looking for the new piece to fill that blank part in my masterpiece. The piece that previously held Brian.
The girls and I are rebuilding, one brick at a time. And we have the best project manager a family could wish for. Our Heavenly Father is watching us build our life, our story, one brick, one piece at a time. He is watching us gently lay each brick, each moment, into the canvas that is our life. We are rebuilding life how we want it, life that matches the master plans that God is showing us. We are making the pieces come together to do something great!
Amelia and Emerson are getting to help choose the pieces. And someday they will break their pieces off and independently work towards their own creations. They will have moments where their art starts to crumble. Where they won't know if it's worth starting over. And if you ever see them in those moments stop and help them with their pieces. We need each other sometimes and we need your signature, your touch on our lives, in our creations!
So tomorrow, I will keep building, making new memories for August 5th, but I will also be sad for the pieces that were there and are no longer part of my final product. I miss my husband pieces. I miss Brian and the life we were supposed to have together. I know that I had to have those pieces, though, to get the pieces that I have today! The Amelia and Emerson pieces are my favorite part of the design right now!
Piece by piece...with the help from my master designer, I will keep putting my pieces together to make my masterpiece! I will keep moving forward, one piece at a time. And I pray that no one bumps the table and send it all crashing down again. But, if that happens, my Heavenly Father will be there to scoop me out of the rubble, set me on my feet, and hand me that first brick to start rebuilding. I am strong and I am smart and I am faithful. I know the final product will be well worth the struggle of putting it together!
Piece by piece...
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