Each One, Teach One

 

As a new weaver, I was fortunate to have a group of older, more experienced weavers who encouraged me and kind of took me under their wing.  Their mantra was 'each one, teach one'.

My goal was a little more expansive than that.  I fell into the rabbit hole of weaving and fell a long way down.

And I loved it.  It fed me in so many ways, but also challenged me, pushed me to grow as a person, not just a weaver.

Since I was already a bit of a writer, it was a fairly easy transition to begin writing about weaving for publication.  At the time it was short form - articles for publication.  I didn't really think about an actual book, not for many years.

Long time readers of this blog will remember that my first book (and I still amaze myself when I write that phrase) grew out of the monograph for the Guild of Canadian Weavers.  Again older more experienced weavers took me under their wing, encouraging me to get the information on wet finishing recorded, send it out into the world so that others would also know about the phenomenon.

When asked when my next book would be coming out my immediate and heart felt response was 'not in this lifetime!'.

And yet.

Over the years I began teaching more and more, especially after Magic in the Water came out.  When I was asked to submit my application to teach at Olds, I realized that the master program would be a good fit for me and I was delighted when I was hired as an adjunct teacher.

As the years went by, I realized I need to - write another book.

Not everyone wants to teach.  Not everyone wants to write - books or otherwise.  In the case of the second book it wasn't mentors who urged me to write, but my students.  It became a labour of love - love of weaving, love of my students.  It wasn't easy and it wasn't fun, but it was necessary.

And so I did it.

And that is pretty much the story of my life.  That I, and most people, will do things - not because they are easy, but because they are necessary.

If things like writing a book were easy, everyone would be doing it.  

But that doesn't mean that each person can't pass on their knowledge - whatever they are knowledgeable about.  Each one, teach one.  If not now, when?  If not you, who?

And so I wrote the second book - available via blurb.ca (or blurb.com for those outside of Canada).  I organized conferences.  And for 2021, the seminar series http://pgfibrearts.ca/seminars

We are going through interesting times.  But they will eventually become less 'interesting'.  First we have to get through this time.  

{{{hugs}}} to all who need one.