The end draws near

After a particularly gruelling six days spend traversing across the Overland Track in combative weather, the sky finally opened up to reveal what felt like the heavens shining down on me. Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Without suffering there cannot be happiness”, and there certainly is no beauty without pain, no peace without war. It’s these polarities of life that define our human experience and enable us to find meaning in our lives. My final day on the Overland Track, we reached Lake St. Claire (leeawuleena) and this painting is a visual reminder of my physical, emotional and spiritual experience in the Tasmanian bush for six days. It’s tinged with idealism, relief, dismay. It is a darkness hanging over a joyful experience or maybe a light found within suffering. Maybe it’s both.