Red Brick Road To Happiness | LMAC FreeStyle Collage No. 171

Ten-year old Lacy learned that the famous yellow brick road her mom would read to her about wasn't the only path to happiness. While her friends chased new bicycles and the latest fashion attire, she sought a warmer, quieter trail.

She discovered the Red Brick Road, an alternate path built of sun-baked bricks and nature's wonders. It reminded her of her mom's arms wrapped around her small body while she comforted her after a fall from the swing. It reminded her of the weekends they spent tending her garden.

Those days all ended the moment her mother decided to leave her father. Within six months, her mother had left again. That time to transition to her heavenly home.

It wasn't her choice. "You'll be fine living with your father and new stepmother," her extended family assured.

But it wasn't fine. Anyway, how did dad find another wife so quickly? constantly flooded her thoughts. The tension of her new home grew daily. Lacy's mother taught her always to be polite and respectful. But why don't adults do the same to children, she also wondered.

So she turned to the only comfort she remembered. Weekends avoiding the house by starting a small garden of her own. Around the flower bed, she placed small, bricks, then spray painted them red. Next, she placed a picture of her mother among the red roses.

She named her garden "Red Brick Road To Happiness". There, she spent all her free time continuing to nourish what she and her mother started. All she asked of her father and stepmother was for garden tools, seeds, and books to help identify the various plants and techniques for successful gardening.

She didn't mind the smudges on her face or dirt on her clothes and hands. For her, the garden was a connection to her past. A happier time.

The Red Brick Road to Happiness wasn't about displaying her expertise, or defying her father and new stepmother, it was a symbol of her inner peace that led straight to the heart of what she loved most.

"That girl has got to mingle with friends, show more interest in "feminine things", and involve herself in social activities," Lacy overheard her stepmother rant. "She unnerves me. We have nothing in common."

Her father remained silent. He knew the role he and his new wife had played.

"Then I suggest you find something in common because she's my daughter and isn't going anywhere. In fact, she's trying to find her path in life after losing her mother. You remember the circumstances surrounding that tragedy, don't you? If you can't understand that or try to find something in common, then I also suggest you consider locating a different address going forward."

Lacy didn't understand why the conversation was exchanged in low voices, so she said nothing about eavesdropping. But things felt different after that conversation. The tension eased, but she still preferred to remain outdoors. Peace came more readily among the non-judgemental roses.

One weekend, Lacy re-read a favorite classic tale she and her mother enjoyed, 'The Wizard of Oz'. Instead of chasing a distant, glittering Wizard, I can hide tokens in my garden that represent items along the path I want to achieve. Then, when I reach those goals, I'll hide another, she planned.

Lacy’s crimson path meandered through familiar, comforting wonders. It also diverted to unknown obstacles. Always, the bricks glowed a warm, rustic color that felt exactly like her mother's home and garden.

With each item she found, a personal and private goal had been reached. The bricks whispered quiet secrets: "Happiness isn't a place you go... it's in the things you build and share." The deep, inviting red represented her mother's favorite color and passions.

Along her quiet, winding trail, Lacy didn't meet lions or tin men. Instead, she found insects she researched at the library. New plants and flowers she documented to research later. Then, she sketched the entire garden with her mother's image inset. A hidden talent she only recently realized and cultivated.

As she grew over the summer, the garden where she tended bright, sweet-smelling flowers among the red bricks weren't just stepping stones. They were her own cherished memories and goals. She learned that finding joy didn't require leaving her backyard.

The next weekend, Lacy's father suddenly appeared with a large bush in his arms. "This is in memory of your mother. Let's plant it and watch it grow along with you. It'll be as though your mother is watching over you as you grow to womanhood."

Her father discovered the unique daughter he'd never known. Her love of nature surprised him, especially her knowledge gained from her mother's teachings. He realized how purpose driven she was, not with possessing the newest technology devices and complaining about not having materials things. He noticed how she carefully documented each goal she reached and how she planned to celebrate. All this without his knowledge. Her fortitude and way of looking at the world and life in general amazed him.

At the end of her own story, he read what she wrote in her notebook.

"The path I want to follow doesn't have a castle or a Wizard at the finish. My desire is to become a botanist or herbalist in my next life chapter, following fulfilling my mother's passion that has now become mine."

He wept.

Something surprising happened when Lacy reached the last page of her garden journal. She expected her journey to take her far away from the house where she didn't feel comfortable. Instead,the Red Brick Road to Happiness curved back into her father's driveway, leading right up to his front porch.

She smiled, realizing that the Red Brick Road wasn't a journey to find happiness, but a beautiful reminder that her mother had been with her all along guiding her into the hands of her father.

For my current freestyle collage, I envisioned a whimsical theme. Then came the story that changed the dynamics to pensive about a small girl facing a terrible loss; that of her mother. To navigate her way and find happiness, she chose nature to lose herself in.

Below are my steps in which I utilized Canva, my design program, to blend the different type images. I began with a blank, white canvas. I then added layers of elements in accordance with my upgraded Annual Pro Membership that includes tools to remove backgrounds, resize, filter, duplicate, and reposition items as required. Perhaps of all the tools, the ability to remove backgrounds thereby creating transparencies of the images is crucial to the blending process.