Sunshine in a Jar

Archive for the ‘Photography and Paintings’ Category

On the weekend I wanted to play around with my paints to see what sunshine in a jar might look in different phases.

The results were: Storm Cloud in a Jar, Sunshine in a Jar, and Taking the Lid Off

By Jessica Outram

By Jessica Outram

By Jessica Outram

I came across this image today from the movie Sunshine. In some ways that’s how I feel right now looking at the vast size of this metaphor. There is so much work to be done (and alas the laundry is being ignored as a result.)

Captured in Britt, Ontario.

A prayer answered.  A sign.

I remember praying that my mother’s knee surgery would go well a few years ago.  I asked for a sign that everything would be okay.  I also prayed for change in my life.  I was sitting in my favourite church at the cottage.  The answer washed through me. 

After Mass, I turned to my mother and said, “Mom, everything’s going to be fine. We can stop worrying.” 

I explained to her my prayer and she said, “I want a sign–they’re my knees!”  We laughed and thought nothing of it.

The next day my dad emailed the family pictures of the sunset he took the night before. A sign was delivered through the sunshine. A friend of the family replied, “That’s quite a sign!”  None of us had noticed the cross resting between the clouds.  Mom had received her sign that everything would be okay–and it was.

Captured at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome.  2006.

There is a distinct relationship between light and spirituality. My spiritual text is the Bible and there are many inspiring lines about being light and letting your light shine.

The section that has had the most profound affect on me is from Matthew 5:14:

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

When Pope John Paul II came to Toronto, I sang in the World Youth Day Choir. “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world” was the major theme of the event.

I often wonder if my connection to sunshine in a jar comes from here. I wonder if it came from hours and hours of singing about being the light of the world and letting my light shine.  That summer the music took root inside me.  This is where I began to see myself as light and to see the light in others.  

Captured at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Italy. 2006.

Captured in Rome, 2006.

Captured in Assisi, Italy. 2006.

Captured in Britt, Ontario.

Captured in Britt, Ontario.

You can’t help but be inspired when you are on Georgian Bay.  I’ve travelled many places and it remains the most beautiful landscape in my mind.  I’m not sure who took this picture…I found it on my dad’s desktop this morning but it is stunning.  It’s a picture of the lighthouse my grandfather grew up on.  Although the actual structure he lived in has probably been replaced with this building it is on the same island.

So far, three of my biggest writing projects (two plays and a novel) have been set in Northern Ontario. My parents moved here permanently last month.  I’m looking forward to spending more time luxuriating in this landscape.