Red Door Meditation #1 on Multiple Sclerosis

"My Red Door", by Margie Ann, found object sculpture (2007), located on Gardengate Serenity Farm.

The breezes blew crisp and cool

The Door stood in the light.

Strong, solid, sassy

Opening quick, opening wide

In and out

Back and forth

Easy.

The hinges rocked free and fast

The Door stood in the light.

Tall, tough, teasing

Swinging in, swinging on

Up and down

Over and Under

Normal.

The fates laughed loud and ugly

The Door stood in the dark.

Cracking, cold, coughing

Slamming heavy, slamming hard

Falling and rising

With and without

Shock.

The locks jammed rusty and rude

The Door stood in the dark.

Banging, begging, blistering

Raging wildly, raging madly

Crumbling and refusing

Remembering and forgetting

Lost.

The knocker tapped serenely and sincerely

The Door stood in the light

Laughing, loving, leaping

Releasing instantly, releasing generously

Narrow and wide

Sooner and later

Found.

If you knock

the door will open.

I did ...

It did .

Just be brave enough

to go through it.

"Red Door Meditation #1 on Multiple Sclerosis", free verse by Margie Ann, 2011.

  

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My life came crushing down around me when I had a bad Multiple Sclerosis attack in 2001. There was no more career, no more business, no more walking alone, and for awhile...no more hope.  All that I knew to be secure, no longer was.  

The plans I had worked 38 years to make come true, were lost.  There was no vision left of what my life would be.  There were only memories of old dreams...like a large, modern home, with a bright red door (which to me meant passion, wealth, and beauty).

The large modern home was no longer in my cards, but I saw this old flaky door laying on the ground at a yard sale, brought it home, painted it red and turned it into a meditative sculpture.

I began to meditate on positive images and ideas each time I passed the door, or viewed it from my bedroom window, or spotted it when approaching the house.  Soon...I understood..."knock and the door will open" didn't mean you were guaranteed your dreams were on the other side...but it might mean there was on the other side...a life worth living...  and the definitions of passion, wealth, and beauty were in the eyes of the girl who found her hope.

 "Where the Healing Happens", photograph by Margie Ann, 2011 The Red Door sculpture sits back to the east side of the house.