I’ve been meaning to post this for almost a month now.
There is an ancient Welsh tradition that I learned in my journey through England. When a Welsh warrior would go off to battle or on a long journey, he would carve his beloved a spoon. The wooden spoon would be a gift to remember their love despite the distance.
I was the blessed recipient of one such Welsch spoon.
It was an impractical tourist version, but I insisted on traveling, cooking and and eating with this spoon nonetheless. It wasn’t the most practical spoon, but I was awed by what a fabulous gift it made. I would think of my lover as I prepared and ate my meals. I happen to beleive that the intention that you make and eat a meal with imbue it with a certain positive or negative energy.
What better intention to imbue a meal with than love?
Walking with my Welsch lover back in December I came across a twisted piece of oak in the forest. Departing on my bike I took it with me. For the last few months, here and there, I have been working on this spoon. In so doing, I have discovered yet another beautiful element to this tradition.
The steady act of carving a spoon is tremendously meditative. Wood is an organic material that you must lovingly whittle into its destined form. The particular branch that I used had grainy twists and turns that I was compelled to follow. It certainly didn’t seem like it would make a spoon. Yet, it emerged with a beautiful character all its own. After three months of consistent work it was finally done. Before I sent it off I tested it out, I was blown away by how cool it was! I even contemplated for a brief moment keeping it for myself!
Going with the wood’s unlikely twists and turns to discover something uniquely beautiful struck me as dazzling metaphor for the relationship I shared with my lover. Our relationship was characterized by going with the flow or moments that we found ourselves in. It was on intense moment after then other. We went with our moments wherever they took us. And they took us to dazzlingly beautiful places.
As she stirrs her coffee each morning with this , it is my hope that she remembers, not I, but the spirit of our love. Each moment with another is a gift. Don’t let the future or past darken it. Be there. Go with the flow of the moment’s grain. Sculpt something beautiful. Love.
