Uncharted Territory

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely living in un-chartered territory! Hopefully the future will welcome all of us with gifts we haven’t imagined. But for now…here we all are..in the midst of shifts and changes…all demanding much from each of us.

When change is upon me, one of the things I do…by reflex really…is to sink my left brain into some activity so my creative right brain can play with imagination and create or find some clues about what’s going on. Many times, I knit…I actually can do this without looking…well mostly. My mother taught me to knit when I was 12. When I went to college, I was one of the ones who sat in the back of the class and occasionally dropped my metal knitting needle that clamored to the floor disrupting the professor’s presentation. Over the years, I’ve tried other things. This time it used weaving.

Almost immediately with the onset of Covid-19, I began. I’ve never been satisfied with how I warped my loom (put the threads on the loom through the heddles (what makes the pattern) and reed (what holds the whole work in place), My loom is upstairs…where my husband spends most of his time when he isn’t out and about volunteering. It just seemed like a good idea to be up there with him. So…I committed to warping, weaving, removing, again and again…until I became comfortable…like a rhythm…with my skill of warping and weaving. Today, I have to say, I am more proficient. I have a stash of weaving to prove it! And, I feel more present than ever because of my time to reflect.

With my left brain preoccupied by weaving… I’ve been much more able to allow my right brain the freedom to explore my curiosity…to reflect…about what matters to me…really matters to me.

I grew up in a small town in Ohio. Until I went to high school, I wasn’t consciously aware of the perception of difference between people because of the color of their skin. Until I went to college, I wasn’t consciously aware of the perception of difference between people with different last names that perhaps indicated their ethnicity. Time has passed…I’m 78 now. I don’t think I’m much different than I was then…other than being more aware of perceptions and attitudes…mine own…what is near me…and what I see projected from TV or the newspapers I read.

As a young person in the ‘60s, I participated in activities I hoped would change the world…from Civil Rights protests about the treatment of Blacks…to protests against our engagement in Vietnam. Don’t misunderstand. I’ve learned a lot about myself…and others…about the lack of capacity of people to stand in the shoes of another person. Today, I am…proudly…married to a hero from the Vietnam War.

And…today, what I would like to say are two things:

I am grateful for the Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American people, as well as those of diverse ethnicities, present in my life…each of you is a gift to me.
And, more particularly, I am so grateful for your endurance…yes endurance…(definition: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way).

Thank you, each and every one of you, for being you… for enriching my life.

Stay safe…and we’ll get through this together.