Creating Space

The human spirit is all about shifting fixed ideas and beliefs to accomodate the eternal change that is natural to us all. It is giving up  control of even the most minor decisions, and facing the open gates of change. It is a constant challenge, and we are all, on some level, fighting a great battle.

This has never been more clear to me than now, as I begin to ready myself for the emotional and cultural shift of aging into my 60's.

Plans, lifestyle, ambitions and goals that seemed so important at one time, seem less important now I have accumulated at least some scant amount of wisdom necessary to see beyond the fixed ideas of my youth and middle years. That there truly is a time and season for all things.

For me, right now, that season is to become awake to my own mortality, to explore what I'd yet like to experience and accomplish, while I still have relative health and ability to do so.

So how does one accomplish this transition with grace? I believe it is in our willing intention to 'create space' in our minds eye for something new. To open doors and windows long shut, and try on fresh ideas, to see how they might fit. To agree to view this part of our life with a determined joy, as the grand adventure we've perhaps, never allowed ourselves to consider taking, rather than the mess we never were quite able to clean up.

Right now, I am in the process of creating space for a different kind of future than the one I'd originally planned. Allowing things to happen, opportunities to arise out of the ashes of ideas I've left behind, seen as if for the first time, once I've allowed myself to see with a fresh eye. It is interesting to allow ideas, previously discarded, back into my thoughts. It is interesting to see how all my careful planning has at times, limited the possibilities of great joy!

I am ready for my next great adventure! One that will define what it is to live a wonderful life with the time I am fortunate to have left, and the wonderful people I am lucky enough to share it with.

More to come. Thanks for sharing this journey!

My New Spinning Wheel

As I have been an owner of many looms, so have I been the owner of several spinning wheels. Like Goldilocks, I've been searching for the one that is 'just right.' And I found it!
Like my weaving, I know I need to keep things simple to be happy. I found the unfinished Ashford II to be exactly what I wanted. 
I have been busy sanding til the wood is as smooth as satin. Soon it will be coated with a natural Danish oil and wax. I love the grain of the silver beechwood it's made of. It is a warm wood once finished and very pretty.
The wheel is MDF. Not so pretty in and of itself, but with some skill, it can be made to be very special. And that's what we all want right? A pretty fairytale wheel we can spin away on as we sit by the fire.
I chose seasonal wreaths as my theme for my wheel. I have done tole painting in the past, and find it can be quite relaxing and 'zen' like.  I expect painting this wheel will be a labor of love for me.
One side will have a wreath representing the fall, my favorite season. With its leaves of gold and scarlet, and coppery acorns, it will be a reminder of the season of my life at this moment in time.
The other side will have a winter feel. A season I will soon enter for myself, if I am fortunate. It will have juicy red berries and a bit of snow resting on it's bramble of wintery branches. And perhaps a bird for company.
It will be a pleasure to look at, and I hope, a treasure for someone else one day when I am gone.