An Open Mind

 

Recently I saw a tweet from someone in a different discipline say "It depends!"  So, not just textiles, then.

One of the reasons I finally buckled down and finished* (for certain values of) writing this book was the people who simply did not know what they did not know.  Therefore they didn't know the questions they needed to ask in order to add to their foundation of knowledge.

I also saw on line that there was poor information being shared.  Solutions rooted in the 'magic bullet' way of solving anything.  Applying Bandaids instead of understanding the principles of the craft.  There were solutions rooted in 'tradition' (we always do it this way!) as if we aren't adaptable and can come up with other ways of doing processes, or devising new tools, but must constantly fall back on old ways of doing things.

Not that the 'old' ways are bad, just that maybe there are other ways.  It depends.

As mentioned previously, the kernel for finally writing this stuff down was an Olds student who, after my doing my 'thing' about selvedges and ALL the considerations that affect them, asked if there was a book where they could find this information.  All in one place, as it were.

After thinking long and hard, I realized that there was no such book that discussed the nuances of the processes.

I responded to a tweet this morning that the onus is on the instructor to explain things in many different ways (because not everyone processes info in the same way, but also because not everyone is on the same page in terms of foundational knowledge - but didn't say this bit because it's a tweet - and how much can you actually put in a tweet? - not much), BUT that the onus is on the student to keep an open mind in order to receive new information, absorb it, and put it into their practice if they find it might be helpful.

And not everyone does that.  There always seems to be one in the crowd who falls back on 'tradition'.  The "I've always done it this way and I'm not changing, because this is how I do this thing."

Fair enough.  But my question then becomes - it you didn't want to learn something that you didn't know, why are you here?  Never asked out loud, of course, because that then becomes adversarial and I have a class to teach.  But I do wonder...

My approach has always been to go on to the others in the room who are interested in learning new things and let the traditionalist do what they prefer to do.  As long as they are happy, it's none of my business.  (One student came to me after a class and commented that she should have researched me better before coming to class - said in a way that indicated that she wouldn't have bothered if she had known.)

There is much knowledge in tradition.  Many times the traditional way of doing something in a culture is the most efficient/ergonomic way of doing the task with the level of technology that was available to them.

The fact that all the cultures in the world were built on what our ancestors were able to do is quite frankly, amazing.  The fact that a certain sub-set of 'white' people insist that our ancestors couldn't possibly make the things being found in grave goods or at digs, that aliens must have visited (usually some sort of white messiah alien) makes me cringe.  As if human beings didn't evolve and develop and make wonderful things because something in the human soul needed roses as well as bread.

Human beings are puzzling creatures.  On the one hand they can be incredibly kind and compassionate.  At others, hurtful and harmful.

If people could just open their minds all the way up, accept that they may not know everything, that maybe the indigenous cultures might know more than they do and should accept that fact would be a great first step in moving forward.  

Today is turkey day in Canada (Thanksgiving, but I've come to accept that the whole myth about 'thanksgiving' is based on a colonial history I'm no longer wishing to promote), and while I recognize that an official day to show gratitude is A Good Thing, I am also aware of the racism still being used to suppress others.

The way to grow as human beings is to keep an open mind.  Some people talk about 'beginner' mind.  I would like to acknowledge that kind of attitude as an open mind - a mind willing to take on board new information, add it to what is already in long term memory, find out how it enhances what is already in there, figure out how and when that new knowledge might be applicable in my practice.

Having an open mind means learning new things about society and history.  Recognizing that the 'winner' writes the history that gets passed down, and perhaps it might be a good idea to read accounts written by the 'conquered'.  Find out more about the actual society that has been displaced instead of assuming that my immediate ancestors were the 'gold' standard of culture.

Personally that means reading books written by aboriginal people - not just in North America but other countries/continents.  That means listening to archeologists who are amplifying the actual history of the people they are learning about, and respecting the local folk they are working with.  Listening to performers - singers, dancers, poets - of different cultures.  Reading history that tells a more complete story.

So on this day of gratitude, I say thank you to the ancestors, the giants on whose shoulders we stand.  I recognize and accept that my DNA goes back to the original people.  It includes (according to the National Geographic genome project) Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA.

We are all cousins.  We all come from the same ancestor.  We are one people.  What matters is what is inside the heart, not the colour of the skin.

*It is said that an author never finishes writing a book, they simply stop writing the book.  So it was with this.  I am quite sure that I will continue to learn because learning to work with textiles is a lifetime of exploration and learning new things.  Revising previous information based on the new thing I have learned.  Recently I referred a friend asking a question about tablet weaving to someone who actually knows something about tablet weaving.  I know just enough about tablet weaving to understand just how little I know about it.  Saying "I don't know" is not a character failing.  It is just a statement of fact.  So while I tried to make this book comprehensive, I do not claim to know it all.