The Sunflower
Lisa with Sunflower Mask
I just returned from a magical week of Storytime/Mythic Yoga training with Sydney Solis, in Boulder, CO. It was much more than training, it was a beautiful life experience.
Each day was filled with the most delightful people, stories, yoga, nature, and experiences that I could ever imagined possible. I also came face-to-face with some personal challenges, working through a complex story, experiencing the ups and downs of a challenging mask-making project, and dealing with altitude sickness! Sydney is an amazing and inspiring woman and teacher, a gifted story-teller, yoga teacher, and artist, as well as a wonderful mom and friend. To have an opportunity like this was something I will always cherish. The other women who studied with me were beautiful, brave and amazing women who are now my friends.
I created a mask that at first did not seem like the thing I wanted to create. I battled with the image, wanting instead to do a cute animal or bird, and finally I surrendered to the Sun idea, which turned into a Sun that was also a Sunflower. At one point in the process I felt like giving up or even throwing it away, but with Wendy Rochman’s guidance and encouragement, I stuck it out and finished my art. Later on, I was happy with it, even though it didn’t match up with what I’d thought it would be. In some ways, it was even better than my idea because it was more of an expression of what I was experiencing in my life and my practice.
When I returned home from Colorado yesterday, the first thing I saw was a long-awaited package of Ukrainian books sitting on my bed. I had ordered them a month ago, and now here they were, sitting on my bed. As I opened the package and took out the first book, I fell in love with its beautiful purple cover. I opened the book and on the very FIRST page was the Ukrainian legend, “The Sunflower.” I could hardly believe my eyes. And the story seemed to be the very same thing that happened to me, with my life, my art, the mask…the sunflower was the son of the Sun, it came from the Sun.
Here is the story of The Sunflower:
The Sunflower (from A Garland of Legends and Folk Tales from Ukraine – adapted and retold in English by Oleksandra Stratiy)
In the beginning, none of the plants on the Earth had flowers. Can you imagine? All the plants were just green. One day, the plants decided to make a request to the Sun, their god, and to ask him for flowers of different colors. But the Sun, high in the sky, replied, “I take good care of you, I think. I give you light. I give you warmth. You can live without flowers. Anyway, I am too busy. I have the entire solar system to worry about.”
Their conversation was overheard by the Sun’s son, a golden-haired Prince. He was eager to be of help. “May I go, Father, and do this job? I would be glad to travel to Earth and assist the plants,” said he.
“No, it’s a very long way from the sky to the Earth, and it is dangerous. You may never come back home,” was his father’s answer. Some days passed. The Prince came back to his Father with the same request. This time, the Sun sighed and shook his head sadly, but he agreed to let his son go.
To the Earth flew the son of the Sun. He roamed around the world. Nature trembled in anticipation of the most beautiful miracle. Wherever the Prince went, the Earth bloomed. Beautiful flowers appeared in the jungles and in the deserts, in the forests and in the meadows, in the mountains and on the waters.
Soon, beautiful, colorful flowers of every size and shape covered the planet. On seeing the results of his work, the Prince beamed with satisfaction. He was so proud of himself, so excited to share his happiness with his Father! He was ready to go home.
The Prince rotated his great wings and struggled to rise from the Earth to the sky. But he could not! He had given his power and energy to the Earth. He could no longer fly. He could not return to his Father, the Sun. The weak Prince fell on the ground, weeping bitter tears. His Father cried in the sky.
At dawn, the Prince managed only to raise his head to look at the Sun. He became the Sunflower. Ever since that time, a golden-headed flower raises his head to gaze at the Sun. His Father promised him homecoming in the next life.
My Sunflower Mask:
The Sunflower
