Slow progress on a slow cloth
This is going to be one of nine sections on a larger cloth.
When I was first training in,and then practicing,massage,
aromatherapy and cranio~sacral therapy, I owned them. They were mine and I did not worry about who else or how many others were also doing it. It was what I was meant to do at that time. I had no fear.
aromatherapy and cranio~sacral therapy, I owned them. They were mine and I did not worry about who else or how many others were also doing it. It was what I was meant to do at that time. I had no fear.
Since then, since I have stopped doing the therapies, since I have lost the passion I had for doing them, I have also lost myself and I know fear. I think I even fear being good at something again...or allowing myself to be good at something again.
I am finally, after seven months, finding my story in this Magic Cloth. I am finding, as I hoped I would, that I am thinking about it even when I am not working on it. I am becoming immersed in it; it is talking to me and maybe I am opening up to owning myself again.
This is what I hoped for when I started doing Jude's classes. My instincts told me it was important for me to invest in this and I am so glad I listened.
One of the most precious gifts Jude has given me are two little words that she tells us all ~ keep going ~ Those two words have indeed kept me going, one step, one idea, one stitch at a time and before I know it, that one step has become a mile, that one idea has blossomed into a hundred ideas, and that one stitch is slowly becoming a whole quilt.....I am grateful.
I'm so glad you kept going....they are very wise words of Judes, and I take heed of them every day. Your slow cloth is coming together beautifully. It's funny how all of a sudden all of those patches become a part of a whole. Mine all seemed so disparate for such a long time and just recently...one day everything sort of fell into place.
ReplyDeleteLovely post Helen. Sounds like you are finding another part of yourself in your cloth making.
Jacky xox
Hi Jacky...thank you. There is still a long way to go...but the _feeling_ I was waiting for has arrived.
DeleteGlad that you have kept going too :~)))
i really like the blue you have mixed in with jupiter colors!
ReplyDeleteOh I love that you see Jupiter's colours...it had not occurred to me. Thank you.
Deleteyour beautiful patches work so well together. we all go through rough patches and if we just keep going,in most cases, little by little things work themselves out. that has been my experience. my magic cloth too has taken over my thinking during the day. it is a good feeling. wishing you well.
ReplyDeleteYes :~) Thank you deanna. Best wishes.
Deletei love this .. keep going ! i have to remind myself all the time . also don't over think it ..
ReplyDeletei love where you are headed .
xxoo
kathyd
the over thinking can make my head spin! thank you kathy. x x x
Deletethat sun is the ultimate happiness!! i'm so in love with your cloth. it is coming together beautifully in pieces and as a whole.
ReplyDeleteyour words resonate strongly with me in terms of taking ownership of something one is learning. that seems really important in finding one's voice. i think that so much learning of new techniques and admiration of others' work might be inhibiting me from finding my own way. i'm sure it'll work out for me, it's like being nervous to use a new language. it'll happen in time, and maybe with some hermitude. do you have any tips on integrating all the lovely connections with pursuing one's own expression?
thank you Dru.
Delete"i think that so much learning of new techniques and admiration of others' work might be inhibiting me from finding my own way."
this has been for me too, and it has been quite painful and even disheartening at times....that's where the 'keep going' has come into its own...even if it is simply dyeing a cloth, or experimenting with the placement of something, oh...and trying to remember to 'play'.
I took heart from what Jude said in a comment many months ago....that copying is a good place to start...and that is what I have been doing, but....Jude's work is instantly recognizable as her own....she most definitely OWNS her work....and that is what I want to achieve for myself. I think, by copying, but also putting my own heart into it, it is ever so slowly becoming mine.
I hope I've answered your question as you meant it Dru....and...what I have seen of your stitching, I would say that you are already expressing 'you' in your work....oh! and a little hermitude is good :~)
yes, thank you helen! i'm glad to know you can relate and that's been part of your journey too... i think i have expressed my 'voice' in stitching, but it's become stressful and laborious, and not even what i'm currently feeling... i want that joyful sense of play back, but it's as if i'm lacking something basic required to do even that...
Deletei am glad you pointed out jude's comment about copying, because i didn't focus on that, but it's kind of what i'm longing to do right now, well either that or follow a quilt pattern. i think that possibly making a quilt in a very traditional way would help me, sort of going back to go forward or something like that... how wonderful to have Permission!!
thank you <3
"that joyful sense of play"
DeleteYES.....let's do it :~)))
Beautifully stated and I'm relating so much to your words as well as your work. I have been studying with Jude for over a year now and my cloth fills a creative void in my life as well. I feel that I have found my voice and I will have this form of expression in my life from now on. When I hear you talk about your passion for massage and aromatherapy and how that changed for you I realize that I have also moved away from other expressions in the past. It makes me savor this beautiful gift even more knowing that it could change as well. Thanks for sharing on such a deep level.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenni Lynn, and thank you.
DeleteIt came as a complete surprise to lose that passion for the therapies...I thought that they were IT for me!! So yes, I too am now savouring what I have at every moment. Best wishes.
I feel like I am still searching to own something again, or maybe own the same something in a new way. In creative expression and in life...sometimes one has to wait and see...and keep going...
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy.....yes, wait and see. I have to keep reminding myself, that things do not happen instantly...that is one reason 'slow cloth' is good for me...for many of us.
Deletekeep going.... :~))))
ha, keeping going is sometimes the hardest thing, although it seems like it should be simple. Sometimes it's like cliff-climbing, straight effort going up.
ReplyDeleteyes, it has felt like that for most of the last four years Brooke...but I know it _does_ pass. It is really difficult to keep a sense of grace through it all, but I do try to.
DeleteCariad mawr to you and your loved ones x x x
and the cloths are stunning, by the way. :)
ReplyDeletethank you :~) x x x
DeleteHelen, you are exactly where you need to be. I know you know that. ;-) And your beautiful cloth is quite a bit further along than mine if that is any consolation! xo
ReplyDeleteha! I forget it way too often Peggy!! It is so much easier when I _do_ remember it :~)
DeleteThe 'further along' (if you see what I mean!), bit suddenly switched on very recently....I'd been waiting for it, so was very glad that it happened. Blessed be ~ x x x
oh, helen- when i first saw the photos of your cloth i thought "it's bursting" and then read your words & see that that it's bursting w/your heart. i am thinking about you, your health, your spirit, your braids. hoping all is well. this work here is beautiful and full of sky and heavenly bodies and you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy...I am often bursting with feelings that I cannot find words for....it makes me so happy that maybe those feelings are being expressed in my cloth :~)
DeleteThank you for thinking of me ~ and I am mostly really good....health improving all the time, spirit up and down, like most people, and braids today are loose and flying free :~))) Much love to you x x x