I was walking mindfully and looking closely in Woodbrooke’s garden recently, when I came across a tree with beautifully knarled bark.

It set me thinking – what makes this knarled bark so beautiful? It’s caused by injury, it’s a response to damage, and yet it produces something we can perceive as beautiful.

Is this a metaphor? Have the injuries (physical, mental, spiritual) that I’ve received in life led me to grow something beautiful in response, or some ugly protection?

Some of both I suspect.