Becoming well loved

Tea dyed paper hanging

This is from one of the Paper Team participants - sharing her process and her beautifully transformed paper ~~

"I admit I was cowed by the beautiful paper that people were weaving. I don't decorate paper....oh, unless you consider tea dying....OK, maybe I do. SO, I did. I used the paper I wrote on and the paper I hadn't yet written on. Some of the text transferred and the paper turned translucent. Still drying but I am so glad to have been "pushed" into thinking outside my own particular box. The paper is becoming, ever more, well used and well loved."

The part of her story that I really connected with is when she compares her paper efforts (her work) to the those of others.

This is the very same trap that I fall into.

I compare myself to others, measure myself with someone else's standards,  -- and guess what?? Whenever I do this - I fall short - I just can't measure up. I feel less than - unworthy.

In an effort to break this habit, I am slowly re-patterning myself.
Perhaps this will be a life long project - but I am committed to becoming well loved (by me!).

Thanks for sharing your tea dyeing story!

Sarah

Our connective tissue

Towel II cools with the bread.

As a weaver and thread enthusiast, I am well aware of all the metaphors that underlie my work.  One of my current passions is thread as connective tissue between living organisms - the element that binds you to me, binds cultures throughout history, binds seemingly disparate tribes. Sort of gluten perhaps?

And yet sometimes our threads do not connect - we have different points of view on the same issue. This is where conflict could arise. But what if rather than conflict we simply nodded our head - and agreed to disagree? Then the connective tissue that binds us together is unbroken.

"Well Used, Well Loved" has a closed Face Book group - where we share our thoughts, response to the prompts and the photos. This is a safe place for our participants to be vulnerable and share ideas, opinions - each one unique. I, for one, have had my eyes opened to feelings that are quite different than my own. 

We are on Prompt #7 "The Dark Side"

For two months we have examined and reflected on different aspects of using and loving.

This week I would like to explore what might be considered the dark side of this topic. It’s a place that some might shy away from – with all good reason.  And yet, to know and understand something – we must be aware of its opposite.  In this case, what might be the opposite of “Well Used, Well Loved”?

Towel VII helps with Easter eggs

In yoga class, sometimes my teacher will have us exaggerate the opposite of a pose – for example if she wants us to relax and drop our shoulders – she asks us to shrug them up, way up to our ears.  And then we dip our shoulders back down with new awareness of both positions. As many philosophers query – how can we know sunshine without knowing shadow?

These opposites are an integral part of Yin/Yang philosophy, Bali Hinduism and many other spiritual traditions.  Perhaps the deeper we explore both sides, the less obvious is the line between “black and white". 

PROMPT #7

• Do you see an opposite to Well Used, Well Loved?
• Do you want to explore this opposite side? 
• If so, what do you see is the opposite of Well Used, Well Loved? 

 As always – there are NO right answers to these prompts. And they are very personal. 

To share them is your choice – not a requirement.

I am so very grateful for your companionship on this journey of inquiry.

Here are two responses: one visual, one written ~

Visual response to Prompt #7

"I can't seem to shake the last prompt regarding opposites, darkness and light... it follows me through my day and even seems to be stalking me in my sleep. Clearly something, I have not given enough consideration to, is seeking my focus and attention. As I sat staring at VIII on my kitchen counter this morning I wondered... is she a continuation of VII and all the woven and numbered towels before her? Cut from the same cloth, but with her own unique sewn and stitched edges. That's when it hit me.... the idea and nature of EDGES is what has been insistently prodding me. Edges, transitions and the nature and power of something to be itself and at some point (visible/invisible/tangible/intangible) become/express something else. It's time to grab some paints and stay tuned to what is bubbling up from the edges and transitions of the dark woods I am about to wander through."

So many threads

Towel V gets wet and messy with a ceramics class.

    I've been away from home for a spell - and there are so many photos and stories that I want to share about what's gone on in this project!! I will be breaking it up into a few blog posts.
    Our 8 Well used, loved towels are out in the world - living large with individuals and families, a classroom and households from England to Arizona and Oregon.
    Our 38 paper team folks had their spinning workshop

kozo paper before it becomes thread

this week. Soon I will have a tutorial for those who could not join our workshop.
   I am in the thick of writing a grant to fund this project for deeper exploration. All is well - I just need to catch up on some news here!

Towel II helps clean up.

    Many of you are contributing the our closed FB group - and I am delighted to see that the threads of connectivity are weaving a tight web.

   That's it for today - back to grant work!

I'll do my best to keep posting your images and stories.

Peace, Sarah

Towel VII helps with birthday confections!

Uncovering the connections



Periodically I pose a question or some point of reflection. Here are some words that folks have shared:

"Each week as I ponder our prompts, I fall deeply into my head, becoming reluctant to post. This afternoon I walked into my studio and found some threads from a recent project, lying on my work table in the shape of a heart. I taped them to my journal and these words came forth."

"I realized today that I might actually be a bit sad to send VIII back at the end of this project, the connection she symbolizes is to me like a link to an old friend being newly remembered. Ahhhh."

"I would describe my relationship to my body as well used, but until recently not well loved. In truth, I spent the better part of fifty years "thinking" I loved my body. "Thinking" I understood the nature of our relationship, "forcing" my ideas about how I should look, act, and feel, "meeting out" my own sense of timing and rhythm, and "dictating" my ideas about what I should eat, drink and do upon this aspect of my Self. But it wasn't until I journeyed through the dark under...ground of cancer that I came to be open enough, to see, know, listen to and love my body as my most faithful and true consort/companion."

journal writing with a well loved pen

The writings and drawings on the kozo paper will be spun into thread and woven into a community art piece.  The writings and drawings in the journals will be shared in an exhibit this fall, along with the 8 hand-woven well used, well loved dishtowels.





Witness and Companion

Dede the bear

    Meet Dede. This is the bear that was given to my daughter when she came home to us 26 years ago. This bear is the most well loved and used creature that I know.

    She has been my daughter's companion EVERYWHERE -- summer camp, Disney World, sailing summers in Maine, Canada, France, school, colleges and now her life in Portland. This spring Dede and Zoe will graduate from college.

     Dede is showing serious signs of love and use. Her right arm is completely withered. Her eyes, nose and toes have all be repaired. There is hardly any fur left on her hide. But isn't Dede beautiful?

This is the kind of beauty that makes me weepy and weak - the beauty that is from love, from attention and companionship.

   I LOVE Dede for being Zoe's faithful side kick for all these years. I knit her a sweater for Valentine's Day 

Dede in her new sweater.

Chew on that

Birthday cookies with towel.

Thank you to all who continue to post in our FB group (closed for now) - to share openly your musings on age, beauty, wear/tear, love and cherishing. Whether it may be an object, a memory, a person or a dream - it all weaves together to create a life, a family, a community, a culture.


Your words give me much to "chew on" as well.
"I wanted to be a part of this project to come out of my isolation, and perhaps get some inspiration for this stage of my life. I spent 7 years managing my mom's life (she had dementia) and she passed away in May at 96. Now I'm getting back or trying to find my own path again. I teach yoga now which I love. But the rest of my life is a mess! So much paper and memorabilia to sort through!! So what did I get for this project?? More paper! Couldn't be more appropriate. I don't know how to start with this paper and all the other paper in my life. All I can say is wow!!"




memories, photos, weave together to tell our story

Inspring Words

Not only are the towels getting well used - but people are sharing words. I am inspired and in awe.


Here are two quotes ~


"More discussion with a couple of friends over a cup of tea after good soaking walk in the rain... We talked about the beauty of old objects and how it applies to the beauty of old people. It came to us that it is the stories that "old objects" conjure up for us that makes them so special, beautiful. We need to pay more attention to the stories of people, especially the elders in our lives"


"It's springtime in high school. The youth (flowers) are wearing me down (rock). I am grateful for the wisdom of age that allows me to accept them as they are and enjoy their zest for life. The hole is old. Its beauty lies in the patience to accept the endless drips that created it. This beauty was not formed overnight but through decades of quiet fortitude. It inspires me."


The Paper Team is exploring creative ways to introduce themselves to each other.