This drawing was inspired by a photograph my husband’s friend from Japan sent to me when he heard I was doing a 100 day drawing project. It was such an uplifting moment to receive support in this way. I felt a sincere connection and desire to help coming from him and I can’t express how wonderful it felt to have a couple images of plants from his garden on the other side of the world to help me in my own journey through this project.

So while I was drawing this plant, I was feeling so grateful for the connection to community from far away places. And the further I got into the drawing,  I couldn’t help but notice how the clusters of leaves and flowers that make up this plant fell into distinct “groups” - there is the cluster of heart-shaped flowers at the very top;  the individual, rogue flower next to them;  a group of large leaves with a couple blooms tucked underneath toward the bottom;  and a group of leaves from another stem sprouting up in the center. Each of these “groups” looked so distinct but also strangely all looked like variations on a heart shape.

A story of what it means to be in community seemed to emerge from this plant - how we tend to belong to our own groups, yet also really belong to the same plant. And the plant feels more beautiful and more interesting in all its diversity. 

I remember how tentative I felt about using the name “bleeding heart” for this card because it has come to be seen as a negative word to describe someone who shows excessive empathy and compassion to others (as if that is a weakness!)