I am struck by how the word looks very close to “re-silence.” Perhaps that is its origin. For elasticity, the bouncing back after stress, trauma and grief, a period of silence aids the process. Like the elastic in a swim suit or a waist band, constant stretching, with no relief offered by a period of rest, the fibres soon go limp with exhaustion.

January was a period of “re-silencing” for me. A road trip through the desert Southwest allowed quiet sensory savoring, gentle exercise, and a chance for reflection.
Visits to textile exhibits in Santa Fe museums added zest, particularly the International Folk Art Museum. The African bridal dresses and the textiles of the Andes offered an array of intricate, elaborate, and beautiful creations from numerous cultures.

A featured exhibit on “The Arts of Survival, Folk Expression in the Face of Disaster” included symbolic fibre creations representing the resilience of people following natural disasters across the globe.

Quilts were created by women of the Sindh province of Pakistan from excess clothing sent by relief organizations following major flooding of the Indus River. These stunning quilts provided income as well as beauty for the recovery of the refugees.

Another quilt, “Bad News Quilt,” was created by Beatriz “Soco” Ocampe of New Orleans as a representation of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. She used recovered sheets and blankets recovered from the home of friends. The two-sided quilt pays homage to the losses of New Orleans lives, homes, and security.

Flags and collages were created by Haitians who survived the earthquake that leveled much of Port-au-Prince in 2010. Young children, calling themselves Ti Moun Rezistans (Kid’s Resistance), collected debris to recycle into collages created with the help of radical arts collective members. The sale and focus of these art works provide income and hope.

Resilience. Bouncing back after ripping apart. Requires re-silencing in order to regain strength.
Peace.

Obviously, I am way-y behind in posting to this blog! Seems a lot like that endless stash…. such great intentions, but the reality of accomplishing it all presents an enormous hurdle.
So, I posted not during the wonderful month of November, Celebrating Diversity…. perhaps because I was celebrating diversity!

Ulrika Leander in her yarns of generativity

The birth of beautiful baby Eloise and the privilege of spending most of her first month with her and her elated and exhausted parents (my daughter and son-in-law) took top priority in October and part of November.  What a statement regarding  generativity…. the ability to initiate and to produce!

A retreat and three workshops in November added threads of productivity to my life’s weaving, while hosting our ENTIRE nuclear family (three adult children, their spouses, and five fantastic grandchildren) over the Thanksgiving holiday wove a November tapestry of satisfied beauty.

Generating, producing, creating, working. All are so important to our sense of worth and of making a contribution, leaving a legacy. Yet, balance is essential. A tendency to over-work is not uncommon in this success-driven culture.
Time to sit, to savor, makes the work worthwhile. Stepping back to review and to reflect on the tapestry we are weaving is as vital to our sense of generativity as the actual production.

So, my December wish for each of you as you find yourself in a frenzy of projects and activities is for PEACE in the process. Sip a cup of tea, savor the moment, breathe, and smile.
Peace.

What a perfect theme for October…. colors! Today I rode the gondola at Lutsen Mountain to view the almost-blinding blaze of glory as radiant autumn leaves claim their individual and collective significance. Truly spectacular.
I am reminded of a poem by John O’Donohue, “In Praise of Earth,” from To Bless the Space Between Us, in which he says of Earth…..
“And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.”

Color is vibrational…. on the electro-magnetic scale, a musical note translates into color eight octaves higher. No wonder a panoramic view of blazing color makes my heart and my feet want to dance, my throat to sing!

I am intrigued, when visiting developing countries in which poverty reigns, color flourishes, especially in the fibre work of that particular culture. In Chiapas, the colors of the shawls worn by women and girls repeated the ochre of the Earth. The fabulous colors of tribes in Thailand, of the Gulabi Gang in India, and, of course, of many African nations…. kente cloth and other.

I am convinced that beauty is as essential to our well-being as food, clothing, oxygen. The human creature seems to thrive through colorful creations.

This evening, I surround myself with an array of colorful piles of roving as I begin a new needle-felted shawl for a grieving friend. The colors tickle my soul.

Scarves…. like this Rapunzel… what a symbol of intimate connection as they tenderly wrap their long threads around our necks, drape sensuously across our breasts, and enfold us in warmth and beauty.

A scarf will hang with us in all of life’s situations. An elegant evening at a concert includes my luscious lavendar/gold shimmering silk from a sacred city in India. Its beauty connects me to my daughter who gifted it and to the women of India who created it. Wearing this lovely piece reminds me of the essential nature of beauty in our lives… theirs, my daughter’s, my own. Our commonality through beauty, the beauty of each of us when we are living our essential self, no matter the circumstances of our lives.

Little (not so little any more… she’ll soon surpass my height!) Abbie and I are joined by the scarves we are making together as Abbie’s Christmas gifts for her moms, grandmothers, and aunts. The scarves are our own adaptation of the Rapunzel scarves. We first finger-knit six lengths, five yards each, for a single scarf. This is what joins us, though over a hundred miles apart, as we both work secretly each day until we have time together.  When we can excuse ourselves from others, we add single strands of wildly colorful, fringey yarns, then braid it all into long scarves. We share laughs and private conversation as we work. Abbie will proudly offer these gifts that join us then to the women important in her life and I, too, will feel strong connection.

Braiding initmacy. Sharing what matters to us…. across generations, across time and space, across cultures. Stitching a soulful, peaceful world.

Intimacy. What a challenge this is for so many. In a culture that asks us to be someone other than our authentic self, developing deep intimacy requires searing honesty. Developing self awareness, then self acceptance, precedes intimacy with another.

Journaling, meditation, and symbolic fibre projects are avenues toward deepening self awareness. Acceptance comes with loving self unconditionally.

The sensuality of fibres is an easily accessible avenue toward a return to our own sensuality. Awareness of and appreciation for our own bodies awakens sensuality in us.

Tune in today…. to everything your skin touches, each scent that tickles your olfactory cells, each sweet sound entering your ears… each taste on your tongue. Squint, then widen your vision to take in the colors, shades, forms before you. Wrap yourself in a fabric that carresses your skin.

Spend time with yourself today. Then learn something new about someone with whom you feel close.