Attention to Detail

 

One of the things that I find essential to my practice of weaving is paying attention to details.

This morning I finished trimming the fringes of the scarves that I wove last fall and January.  In the photo, the fringes don't look terrible, but I don't like the 'messy' (to me) appearance of the splayed out loose fibres that create the tufts.  I feel they don't match the rest of the look of the scarf.  So after wet finishing and pressing, I trim the tufts off.  

Over the years I've tried various set ups and quite by chance, discovered that the back beam of the Megado is pretty much the correct height to drape the scarves over while I sit on a low stool and simply drop the bits of fluff into a plastic bin below.

Yes, it takes time, but in my humble opinion, it is time well worth spending to do.

But that's the thing.  We get to choose.  We get to say what is acceptable.  Or not.  We get to set the parameters of how we spend our time.  What I find acceptable, someone else may not.  And vice versa.

We have great freedom, here in Canada, to do what we feel is 'right' or 'best'.  I can never forget the privilege I have to live in this country.  Along with that privilege comes the responsibility to care for others in my community who do not have the privileges I have had.  As a person living in this society, I have a responsibility to assist those who may need help.  I have a responsibility to look beyond my reality bubble to realize that others have not had the privilege I have enjoyed to make my own decisions, my own way in the world.  That MY reality is not someone else's.

As I get older, I work at peeling away the layers of my reality to see how what happens in the world affects others.  To support and encourage those who may need it.  To recognize that they may be dealing with a reality that bears zero resemblance to mine.  And then, if I can, try to help them if they are struggling.

To light someone else's candle does not, never can, diminish my own.  And more candles mean more light.

And we can always use more illumination.