Since I was wee, I have been drawn to sunflowers, enjoying their look and feel. One year, we built a sunflower fort for our young visitors, and planted sunflower seeds randomly throughout the garden, making a sunflower forest for our pets. I observed this particular sunflower as it went from seed, to flower, to seed head. The image of the petals enclosed –yet opening–stays my breath, filling my heart with quietude. This moment of suspension, of awakening, is full of stillness and life.

This sunflower beckoned me one morning. Captured by its beauty and uniqueness, I took a photo. The image, printed on archival paper, was not digitally manipulated.