The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, or frequency bias, is the idea that when you notice or learn something new, it begins to show up everywhere. Over the last few months I saw nature in a new light everywhere I turned.

This summer I helped my parents pack up their house of 31 years. It's the longest they've ever lived in one place and there were lots of memories, furniture, keepsakes, and generations of items that needed to be sorted.

By the end of the week, my mom and I were clearing out the garage, moving ladders, and tools behind the house temporarily. My eyes caught a glimpse of something on the ground. The tiniest white capped mushrooms, not a few, but hundreds. It was a whole world of tiny fungi lining the ground.

Maybe I didn't see it at the time, but those tiny mushrooms gave me such hope. They were so small, so overlooked, hidden by leaves and twigs. But they had a purpose, they weren't afraid of the dark or the unknown, they were there to do their job.

According to Peter Wohlleben in his book, The Hidden Life of Trees; fungi don't conform to our classification system. They are between an animal and plant and create a network with the roots of trees to communicate and exchange nutrients. Making fungi something like a Forest Internet, and an essential part of a trees' life.

Sometimes we feel so small, so insignificant, we get stuck in dark places. The darkest parts of our life feel hidden away, but there is new day dawning. Let's not linger in the darkness, let the light in. 

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." -Les Misérables, Victor Hugo 

Let the Light In is an original acrylic painting on 8" x 8" x 1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Visit more of the Emerging collection.