Weaving the ground

 

We are born into a family, society, culture and place at a particular time with its joys and stresses, politics and norms. Some of these norms are not welcoming to all aspects of ourselves or all people. Despite ongoing evolution, cultures tend to maintain a status quo, privileging some and undermining others, who sooner or later create another phase of evolution, if they are able. The status quo may be so engrained and subtle enough for it to be possible to deny that any such thing is going on, or to say that it's just how things are.​

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These familial, societal and cultural events and structures shape us. We weave these threads into everything we do and every interaction we have, for better or for worse. Our resilience and wounding is in and through relationship, it's communal, collective and normal. Our nourishment, growth and healing too therefore, needs to be in and through relationship, communal, collective and normal - we are all in this together.

 

I play with this by inviting you to use a peg loom to weave into a communal rug. Each thread is a piece of old fabric and represents parts of our family of origin, the significant people and events of their lives and yours, any family you have created, the important places and non-human relationships in your life and how you came to be in this geographical place connecting with me now. We weave in whatever other themes are relevant. As we acknowledge and welcome the complexity of who we are and what we bring to our relationships and community, we make something as simple as a rug and as beautiful as the forest floor, a tangible expression of our deep interconnectedness. 

 

I have fabric you can use, and some people like to use meaningful bits of fabric to weave in – an old top, or from clothes they wore at a particular time in their life. Donations of fabric are welcome, get in touch to confirm they will be suitable.