Dear Jessica Brennan,
In the town of Whitby, in North Yorkshire, way up on a hill sits the ruins of Whitby Abbey. It was first built in 657 AD, then demolished by the Danes in the mid 860s. The structure was rebuilt in 1220 and then stripped and destroyed by King Henry VIII in 1540. The Germans shelled it for a solid ten minutes in 1914 which caused even more damage. No wonder Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in Whitby and featured the unstoppable Whitby Abbey in his story.
Millions of people travel to see the abbey because it is huge and powerful and beautiful. It is solid and steadfast. It stands there with a strength that is seemingly unbeatable. Yet, it is in ruins.
When I look at my pictures from my visit to Whitby, I think about how much of life a person is able to see through the lens of ruin. I think about how well the foundation and framework of that abbey must have been built in the first place, to allow it to still stand in such a grand way after all of its beatings.
Most of us have experienced times when we felt like we were in ruins. Maybe some of us are feeling that way right now.
Ruin, being the flipside of prosperity, teaches us as much or more than its more pleasant counterpart. No one looks for it; ruin. And no one likes it, but there is beauty in it. Beauty in standing tall and proud drawing on the framework and foundation you have put in place for yourself in better times. Just standing.
And if you can hold your centre while in ruin, rather than curl up and apologetically fade to black, people will notice. People will wonder how you manage to emit calm and grace in adversity. They will not see your pain, failure and loss as fragility, but as courage.
As you stand in your own space, battle scars revealed, with your bricks falling off and your windows blown out, they will say, “Wow, she’s unstoppable”.
Love,
Mum xo
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Thank you, Sharon and Jessica
