Tikkun Olam, 15 yards at a time

I spun this for Sandi Wiseheart’s Prayer Flag project.

The day I read about the project, I received a Golding Le Fleur spindle (purpleheart wood) cushioned in fiber. The spindle is a mandala, and the fiber had enough bits of red and orange to pluck out and spin on their own. 

Sandi asked if we would like a particular blessing attached to our yarn. Yes, I would: tikkun olam, “heal the world.”

From the website for the magazine, Tikkun:
We in the Tikkun Community use the word “spiritual” to include all those whose deepest values lead them to challenge the ethos of selfishness and materialism that has led people into a frantic search for money and power and away from a life that places love, kindness, generosity, peace, nonviolence, social justice, awe and wonder at the grandeur of creation, thanksgiving, humility and joy at the center of our lives.

Kind-of a big job for 15 yards of handspun, but - you never know.

what I think is true

I belong to a forum on Ravelry, Weekly Writers Wordshop, where we are trying to inspire each other and ourselves by writing to a weekly theme. Needless to say, the group just started, and I'm already a week behind. However -

Last week, the theme was "new beginnings." My first thought was, "insanity=doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results." It's one of those sayings that makes us all nod and smile, ruefully, and think about the areas of our own lives where we think we are stuck.

Today, though, I have a different perspective. Call it defensive, if you like, but I wonder whether maybe, just maybe, we sometimes repeat the same things over and over because we failed to understand them the first time.

Maybe moving forward is another name for running away.

Maybe by new beginnings, we avoid looking at where we are, and where we have been.

Maybe we are repeating the same things over and over because they are right. I have thought about and said some things for decades, and I can say I've gotten nowhere - not because I think that what I say is wrong, but because some of the people I speak with don't listen. Will I ever change my mind about peace? Abortion? Human rights? Bread and roses? I hope not. Do I have a reasonable expectation of getting a different response? No. (Do I hope that I listen to the beliefs of others with openness and curiosity? I do hope so. And really, that's all I want, too.)

I wonder about the concept of new beginnings in the absence of new and attainable goals.

I wonder about respecting the desire to dig deep rather than spring ahead.

I wonder what "new beginnings" means to those who are repeating a mantra or praying a rosary or feeling the wind carry prayers from Tibetan prayer wheels.

Perhaps focusing on gratitude, close observation, a new focus on compassion, and tikkun olam will be my changes, my new beginnings towards goals that I think are eternal.

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

Wordless Wednesday