Three Keys

"I know you're not very sentimental," said my mom a couple days ago, "but I thought you might like to have a key that belonged  to my grandmother seeing how you like keys."

Intrigued, I followed my mom to a small chest of drawers.

"I know it's in here somewhere," she said as she rummaged around stacks of old letters, Bibles and family memorabilia including a small black vintage  purse that looked as if it could be from the 40's.

"Here it is," she  said handing me a small skeleton style key.

"Do you know what it was for?" I asked.

"No, it was my Grandmother's and was in her box of things at Uncle Bill's. You can have it."

I straight away added it on the chain of keys I have been wearing on this road trip.

I now have three keys dangling over my heart  on the daily.

Key #1  is a skull key I found in the dirt of the Mojave after a festival

Key #2 was stamped  by my artist friend Lisa Witzel Rasmussenwith the words CARPE DIEM [Seize the Day], and now I have 

Key #3, a family relic that hails from Alabama.

I love a good metaphor with keys and locks having become a favorite since I hit the road nearly 12 weeks ago. So much has been unlocked, so many hidden doors have opened  up new thresholds to cross in both my inner and outer worlds.

Being a curious woman, I looked up what three keys symbolize. In Japanese  culture, three keys together are a good luck charm for opening doors to love, health, and wealth.

The ancient Greek  goddess Hecate is also associated with keys who symbolizes an array of meaning including the  unlocking of  wisdom in the liminal spaces for she is the keeper of the keys to Hades. I find her myth  intriguing and have begun to learn more about the stories of this goddess of entranceways. She is also known as the goddess of the moon.

My own meanings for these three keys that drape over my heart will become apparent as I stay the course of the days and nights of my creative-fueled path.

I am the keeper of keys of my past, present and future.

🖤