I spent a lot of time yesterday on my new hobby — carving soapstone, or as I like to call it, scraping the hide off my knuckles!

I am a crafty person — but not an artsy one. As I work, I fear I don’t understand sculpting at all. I cannot for the life of me, know or see how anyone is able to pull out “what is inside” a stone.

Michelangela I am not. (I have been referred to in the past as Van-goof.) I look and look and as much as I try, I don’t/can’t see the dolphin or the bird or the David in the stone. And even if I did, I would have no clue as to how to pull it out.

But, I am an internal artist and I do see and enjoy a process. I’m happy to sand and file and slowly I allow a smoother version of the rough organic stone to emerge.

There is no doubt that practicing Tai Chi and Qigong suits me. How else could I continue to hold  interest in something I go over and over again and again? I believe I have been able to find myself through the years of practice. Every time I raise and lower my hands I am soothing and smoothing the rough spots of my life.

And truth be told, there have been no big surprises. I am just a more comfortable version of who I have always been. My rough edges, not totally gone, have been exposed, accepted, and as I continue to polish through practice – I am happier and happier with journey.

Perhaps I do understand sculpting after all.