Bad weather was coming … would the power hold? Would the dripping faucets be enough?
But mostly it was about ICE and Minneapolis and murder. Why? How? And what will end it? Or will it?
Spiraling.
This morning the sun came up, obscured by clouds but lighting the world nonetheless. The world sheathed in ice. Today I stitched.
Each stitch over two threads of linen cloth, the curved lines following one after the other, spiraling outward …
Colors breaking through darkness, one after the other …
But even as the spiral pulled the line of stitch inward, the edges of the cloth pulled the line outward … the forces shifting, the gap widening, through no intentional thought, my fingers guided the needle outward sooner than my mind intended, the line wobbling as intention gave out to some other guiding force …
We do not know what drives us, let alone what drives others to do what we do. Stitches can be pulled out and stitched again, lines can be drawn and then erased … but some things can’t be undone and we have to live with the imperfection that was created, whether intentionally or not. And then continue on. It’s what we do next that matters.
Liz~ So well said. I like the widening of the spiral. To me it stands in for some hope...hope that we can get out of this awful spiral we are in as a country, and as individuals when we have no hope and spiral down in doom scrolling. But I guess the good thing is that spirals can be seen as spiraling up (and out) too. May our views be reflected in our actions. Much love. ~Nancy
ReplyDeleteSpiraling up was exactly what I was thinking as I decided which way to orient the patch
ReplyDeleteWhat a great metaphor …the spiral, the light, the dark. And love your stitching!
ReplyDeleteThank you Betty … stitching saves me, as does the Wildflower Center
DeleteThank you for writing this post. I have been doing crazy things like trying to unravel the ribbing on a hat to make it fit better and sorting legos by color - anything to help me ground. Now I am going to think about how to spiral upwards and find a way to be of some use.
ReplyDeleteIt has actually been a relief to be iced in … to have no need of excuses to just sit and be … and to do those things that take me away to another place of existence that isn’t so fraught
DeleteLiz, the spiral is so apt for what we are all feeling; that sense of constriction in the chest i.e. the center of the spiral; a tightening of despair, of anger, of sorrow, then slowly, the looser circular motion, spiraling up, opening as if to exhale and we begin, again to surface with intention. I would like to share a comment I made on Jude's latest Substack post. Among other things, she made a list of love definitions: I wrote, "Looking at all of your definitions of love, I find that the one I want to add is Love can and needs to be fierce at times. I say this in light of what is going on in Minnesota, in our America. I'm in the middle of reading a book, written a few years ago, by Michelle Obama, titled The Light We Carry. Tomorrow, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania's book, When We Keep the Light, will be available. In order for the light of Democracy to stand, we need fierce, communal love to shine and touch every corner of our country. If the love and light are strong enough, may ICE melt...Marti.
ReplyDeleteMarti - “Love can and needs to be fierce” recalls a time when I guarded my daughter’s sleep as she recovered from a serious auto accident in the hospital … I thought of it as being a Mama Bear. That’s the kind of energy and intention that I’m mustering as I write my senators and congressional representative EVERY DAY … because let’s face it, every day of this administration brings a new outrage that must be called out
DeleteL - may our hope and desire for kindness and peace spiral and ripple outwards. B
ReplyDeleteB - peacemaking is a heavy lift in these dark days, but I try to remember that each and every interaction with the world carries the opportunity to be kind
Deleteit's keeping my mind occupied , a program on Dutch T V about restoring old paints ( Rembrandt , Van Gogh )
ReplyDeletethere i saw how they used a P C to remove layer after layer of the painting and place the images side by side until they reached the first layer of the canvas
I reflected on my life , the forgotten and hidden thoughts , statements , actions , works , dealings with ... everything is still here thought by my-self , guided , followed , connected ... ? with...?
Just as the paint was applied to the canvas layer by layer , erased, improved , adapted to thinking , feeling , knowing , seeing ?
So LIZ , your spiral thread work , the description of it ... went deep into me , on this very early morning of going to sleep too early and waking up 6 hours later , wich turns uot to be sufficient for the body I live in ...
Thank you ...
now i go back to bed and have somme rest
written by google translate
I am so grateful that my writing reached you … I confess that I wasn’t sure where my thoughts were coming from or going to, but they called to be written
DeleteHere in Maine the snow has reached the end of its travel... we worried we would get ice and rain but we got loose dry snow that snowblower can work with. Lots of it. As to Minnesota.....I can't understand the darkness of the hearts of the men who wear ICE on their clothing......wanting to hurt, injure and even kill others because they are unhappy with their OWN LIVES.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is there is darkness in the world and in some hearts it outweighs the innate goodness that we were all born with … I don’t know how we go about healing that except by treating each and every person with respect and kindness
Delete(((Liz))) shine on!
ReplyDelete(((Mo))) - I continue to hope that dreams can become reality
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