—Catherine Henderson

—Joshua Barwick

—Jenna Buffington

Weaving a plaited Swedish band is sensuous, tactile, and highly informative. Its strands symbolize 8 main personal focuses. A beautiful undulating pattern weaves each strand to the center of the band and then back out to its edge. The little thread on its curvy-journey—in and out, takes turns being supported by the other threads and then it becomes a fortifier. It has its moment of full recognition as the “core-strand” when it passes through an open gateway made by other warp-threads. Its color creates the apex of the emerging chevron pattern.

The art of life-weaving is noticing a natural process that the experience of the craft reveals—our connection. Nature’s seasons and cycles ripen each in its own time. Feeling a part of this cycle of support could transform a personal life into an ecosystem that does the same. No longer will objectives compete when they are mutually supportive— weaving a whole fabric. You do not have to do everything all at once. The message is: everything will get done. Another comforting thought is—you do not have to accomplish the impossible alone. Your woven-life is supporting and being supported by the world around you that weaves. Through journaling and conversation, insights from the band-weaving experience come to light. Class participants represent a threaded-gateway of community support-strands to each person’s core-aspiration to experience greater wholeness. A decision to live your life like a weaving—in a fragmented world, is the solitary work we cannot do alone.

This class was inspired by the Life-Weaving Tapestry Series. I discovered that the techniques helped me find my rhythm and pattern in the larger flow. Their extreme-texture made me more sensitive to the dynamic universe of constant change. As freeform constructions they have the flexibility to adjust to the unpredictable whims of fate. This class is a liberating experience in weaving your life. I teach techniques for four textured patterns: grid, flow, binding, and textural. Each symbolizes a personal strategy one unconsciously uses, to deal with typical stresses in a changing world that is difficult to keep up with.

Clutter, chaos, illness, and a state of inertia are some examples of the impacts. The art of life-weaving is staying in the flow with spontaneous utilization of one of your life-saving patterns. Discover your rhythm and pattern, uninterrupted by unwanted stress. Journaling and conversation guide the introspective process of matching personal life-saving strategies with the four weaving patterns. This is how to weave your whole tapestry of life which is freeform, a little unconstructed, and it also has a flow.

This class guides a contemplative weaving experience, winding a warp onto a portable frame loom to sense continuity between the past, present, and future—a whole personal journey. The revolving motion enables seeing one’s life in-the-round—no beginning or end. The unifier is a recurring mysterious memory, of having another “true self.” The circular motion, like a singing bowl, will hum with the tones of the local and non-local selves. The familiar personal self exists in the web of space-time, while the other is universal, timeless, and trying to evolve through you. Its presence is felt as the unknown life one was born to weave. The sacred geometry of the warp-spiraling process blends different threads of awareness into one big revelation. This personal calling could be Nature’s desire to evolve greater complexity and wholeness by us taking up her cause as our own.

The true self may be a continuum—a process that fulfills her / our “evolutionary desires.” The sum of revelations that were generated by turning the warp thread onto the frame loom will be called “the turning.” Their collective witnessing could inspire a turning-point in one’s life. Once the warp is on the loom, it will be woven with an interlocking technique.

This process also has many symbolisms. It connects the two selves. The tight bond created by the technique will express solidarity with what one’s life is really about. The three interlocked sections of the fabric design symbolically unify the past, present, and future into woven continuum—the non-representational image of the true and shared self. Journaling and conversation will create a field of resonance for exploring the possibility our mysterious memories are revealing our unique evolutionary destinies. Members of the class also provide a circle of support for each Life-Weaver to go the whole journey—living the life we were born to weave.

Monthly Life-Weaver Circles offer graduates a way to continue the conversations that were begun in class, as well as provide an opportunity for people new to the art of life-weaving to learn more. Sample weavings from the different workshops will be available to try.