Tag: loom

I enjoy watching seniors weave on the loom in the retirement home where I work as a part-time chaplain.

One elderly tenant proudly showed me bundles of variously colored threads that she would weave into Christmas accessories.

Our life is like a tapestry

This caused me to reflect on how our lives are like colorful threads woven together that form a tapestry of experience.

The various stages of our life come together to form the particular person that we’ve become.

Because life invariably presents challenging moments, these threads or experiences may be represented by shades of gray, black, or dark blue—dark times or the dark night of the soul.

Happier moments may be represented by lighter threads such as yellow, orange or turquoise.

Each life is unique as is its corresponding tapestry.

Embrace your whole life

All the threads, together, make up the design of our life. It is in embracing both the darkness and the light of our experiences that we can truly learn to love ourselves. Not selfishly or in an egotistic way, but in a real way.

The tapestry of your life is, indeed, beautiful! It represents the total you.

Baby stories

Although hearing baby stories may rub you the wrong way prompting an “Oh no, not again,” these stories can trigger long lost memories and fortify your sense of identity. They can help you remember who you were before becoming the person you are now.

Christmas baby

A relative recently reminded me of how I’d been the first baby born in my extended family, hence the best Christmas gift ever. I was like a living, little bundle placed under the Christmas tree.

The story helped me thread together piecemeal memories from that period of my life. I remembered the Christmas tree; kissing my grandfather on his stubbly cheek (he had Parkinson’s disease and hadn’t been shaved yet); my grandparents’ verandah and large, verdant ferns.

I told my relative how grateful I was for the love the family had given me and how these bonds had buoyed me during the darker threads of my life. It’s not something that we can repay, but we can acknowledge the connections, the threads both in our tapestry and in the lives that touch ours.

From baby to toddler to teenager, adult and senior, we grow up to become the unique individuals that we are.

All the threads make up the tapestry of our life

All of the threads or experiences make up who we are. Nothing can be denied or left out. Everything is part of our story, our tapestry.

Every thread matters

And just as those threads are delicately interwoven to create something beautiful, so too are the moments and experiences that shape us. Even seemingly insignificant moments have played a crucial role in the grand design, the grand tapestry of my life. Laughter shared with friends, tears shed during loss, wisdom gained through challenges—all these moments add richness and depth to our personal tapestries. Each person we encounter and every experience we endure adds a new thread, making our life’s fabric more intricate and beautiful. So, as you navigate through life, cherish every thread.

Wishing you all the best this beautiful holiday season has to offer.

Let’s Take it to the Next Level together,

Luba

Luba Rascheff is a chaplain and certified spiritual life coach in Toronto, Ontario. Book an appointment here.

Photo by Kimia Khoubani on Unsplash