This new toy arrived at my house this week! I have been longing for a floor loom for many years and recently this LeClerc Mira II serendipitously landed in my life. It took a couple weeks to arrange transport and the anticipation built as I waited!
WOW – this is going to be fun!
Everything I am reading and absorbing right now is related to warping this machine; the first step is to tie on the long vertical threads that will later be used to weave in the warp threads back and forth to create colour and pattern. (Highly simplified; pardon my novice description!)
Warp and weft threads are not unlike the vertical and horizontal planes that we talk about in Transformational Presence. Soul – the vertical – is the part of each of us that relates to spirit and love; BEING who we are. Ego – the horizontal – is the aspect that relates to our physical form and action in the world; the DOING that we get caught up in our daily lives. Figuratively speaking, the interplay of the two creates the fabric of our lives.
If this weaving project is anything like what my life has been like, there will be some imbalances. I am fairly certain there will be times when the warps are stretched beyond the limits of what I think is possible or comfortable and the wefts will have gaps and mis-counted spaces. And it will all be beautiful, because it will be an intentional product of my own making.
Trying something new calls each of us to play, to test new techniques and to get tangled up in the excitement of learning and the frustration of higher expectations. It leads us into a place of curiousity where we can discover new interests and talents. This new experience brings forward for me the idea that who I am as I sit here on the weaving bench is every bit about how I am. Whatever emerges, this is a tapestry of life.
Bring it on!
Where are you sitting right now: more in the vertical plane of BEING or the horizontal plane of DOING? What wants to shift or emerge in your life?