Layers of Us
Hi there. Today we went live on Instagram for the first session of a new weekly in-studio live series. A big thank you to all of you who were able to join us and an invitation to anyone new here to join us LIVE on Instagram each Monday at 2 pm, eastern standard time.
The topic for today’s discussion is “The Layers of Us” and we made comparisons between the layers of a quilt and the layers of our lives. This comparison is both educational as well as self reflecting. Take a look at the similarities between the components of a quilt and our lives. Open your mind and allow yourself to self reflect as I pose questions to you regarding your own life.
A quilt has three layers: the top, the middle and the back. As I create quilts, I have a lot of time to think about all the things of life. It recently dawned on me that the technical components of a quilt are very similar to the layers of us. Stay with me here, open your visual mind and let’s explore this concept.
The top layer of a quilt is called the patchwork. It’s composed of multiple pieces of fabric sewn together to create an artistic tapestry of various shapes, textiles, colors and prints. If we imagine for a moment that this layer of a quilt is equivalent to the part of us that we put forward for others to see, it will give us a visual way to reflect on the collection of our life so far.
Some lives are somewhat tranquil the whole way through, never experiencing rough waters or difficult trials. A life as such may look like peaceful colors, in soft coordinating tones. However a life that has experienced challenges and trials, successes and failures may have a variety of contrasting colors and an array of shades. Darker colors may represent the hard times while bright colors may represent the successes and happy times.
In addition, the way the colors are arranged on a quilt could also represent the way a person processes life’s journey. Are your experiences contemplated, processed and categorized into clearly marked chapters of your life, making for a well organized and somewhat symmetrical or geographic array of your life’s colors? Do you find that you are able to gently coast along with life’s ebbs and flows, creating a gentle ombre arrangement of colors? Or, are your life experiences documented in your mind whimsically, as they happened, making for a random, but equally beautiful mix of the colors of your experiences, collectively identified as your life so far? How you have reflected and processed the events of your life determines the way in which you present yourself to the world and live every day.
This patchwork concept can also apply to your family, your community, your nation and our entire world. What are the colors and patterns of each? How do these colors and patterns change over the years, decades and centuries? What would a global tapestry look like 500 years ago versus today?
Now let’s take a look at the back of a quilt. It is usually made of one piece of material and is the side of the quilt that is less seen. It’s like the side of ourselves that we only choose to show to those we are most comfortable with. It’s a dimension of our innermost selves that isn’t necessarily apparent at the first glance. Some backs are subtle and calm, allowing the front of the quilt to shine. Some backs are vibrant and colorful, offering a contrasting pattern that, together with the front, creates a whole new dimension of design. They may even clash a little bit, creating a balance that surprisingly works really well.
Likewise, if a person has an outgoing outward personality, maybe in the down times, this person is quiet and somewhat shy. Or, conversely, maybe a shy person has a wild side, a hidden charisma that they only feel comfortable showing to the people that know them the best.
Either way, the thing about the back side is that it’s a supporting role that you can decide how or when to let show. As in a quilt on a bed, sometimes we like to turn down the top part of the quilt, or fold it over a couch with just a touch of the back showing. And sometimes, we like to shake things up a bit and flip the whole darn thing over, displaying the back of the quilt with just a tiny bit of the front displayed.
The middle part of a quilt is called the batting. That’s the fluffy stuff in life that we collect over time. No, not mid life weight gain….rather the experiences that are layered upon us, year after year. The more we collect, the stronger we become, less fragile as we endure life’s stresses. On the other side, the more we carry with us, sometimes it becomes a heavy burden. If the batting is the accumulation of our experiences, then the stitches throughout is the path our life takes. Sometimes the stitches, which we call the quilting, are straight lines and sometimes, most of the time, the quilting stitches are a meandering trail moving around the textures and prints of the tapestry. The more batting a quilt has, the more prominent the stitches become. Sometimes the stitches are an art in themselves and sometimes they are made inconspicuously among the fabric. How well is your path defined behind you? Is it a well worn trail through a forest, or shallow like footsteps in the sand?
Now that you have considered a few things about your life and maybe even visualized it as an array of colors and patterns, I encourage you to continue reflecting. In a quiet moment, open a fresh notebook, light a candle, play some relaxing music and begin the process of putting your reflections into words. Here is a list of life reflecting journal prompts for you to begin with. You never know the realizations, lessons and patterns you will recognize when you take the time to reflect.
If today’s message inspired you to contemplate the tapestry of your life, here are some writing prompts that can help you on your reflecting.
