Compassion

i. winterhart - 2013

When I first started my flags, the final result was blurry. I knew the general direction, but not the destination. It is what I love most about the creative process, you just never know until you arrive. But as I was sitting at my table, weaving the threads in and out, over and under the flags started talking to me.

For each flag I created a copper frame and on each frame I punched two rows of holes to hold the threads. The first rows weaved together perfectly. Over and under and over and under. But when I got to the second row I was having to go over, under, over two, under one, over one, under two, etc. just to keep it from looking "off". The anal part of me was screaming. The wabi sabi part of me wasn't too concerned. But it was then that I realized exactly what this meant. I could see the frame as the Universe and the strands were all of us. All of "us" being plants, trees, insects, animals, people. All. We are all woven together, held in place by the embrace of the Universe and even though we aren't woven together perfectly, we are all one. If one unravels, we all unravel. When I told my thoughts to my dear friend, Mary Jane, she sent me this quote.

"When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe." - John Muir

For my flags last year, I placed many different "wishes" on many different flags. This year I've only picked three words. Three simple words with a lot of meaning. For me, this year has been all about "compassion". Although sometimes I'm quick to preach it, I don't always practice it. So I've tried to put a lot of emphasis on practicing it daily.

This morning I wandered upon this quote.
It made me smile.

"A spider lives inside my head
Who weaves a strange and wondrous web
Of silken threads and silver strings
To catch all sorts of flying things,
Like crumbs of thought and bits of smiles
And specks of dried-up tears,
And dust of dreams that catch and cling
For years and years and years . . ." - Shel Silverstein

And it was then I was reminded of a clip I saw on the documentary "Happy". It was of the Dalai Lama explaining that the way to maintain happiness in your life is through compassion. I know that for my personal venture of practicing more compassion is to let go of anger and resentment. It is sometimes really difficult to find compassion for someone we feel undeserving, but when we do, we find peace. When we throw love at someone instead of dirt, the outcome is positive and both sides feel some sense of happiness.

So the three words I'm manifesting most through my flags are peace, love and compassion. When we give love and show compassion, peace just simply appears.

i. winterhart - 2013