I've actually started and am so pleased to say, continuing with,
an organizing project I started on New Year's day of this year.
I was in the throe's of New Year's resolution guilt,(specifically,
guilt about not having any resolutions) and was sitting with a warm
laptop in my lap, warm cookies on my plate and looking at pretty
pictures on the internet, when I came across a photo of a
magnificent book all sewn together.
This book had been created by Mary Ann Moss, an artist who teaches
an online course in creating these gorgeous books out of the piles of
pretty papers and bits of ephemera that some of us tend to collect.
I have always saved papers. I have bins full of ticket stubs from
places like the Louvre,(how could I throw it out?) old bits of
stationery, stacks of art papers from college and continuing through
every project I've ever done. She really caught me at "Are you
drowning in pieces of paper?" I purchased it at that exact
moment, on-line ON New Year's day!
© Mary Ann Moss - Book from her Online Course
I was intrigued by the sewing aspect of the program. I felt that
the process of sewing something beautiful out of my piles of
ephemera could be a meditation in itself. In Sanskrit,
Sutra means "little thread" and the yoga sutras are the words
of wisdom that when meditated upon, stitch together the
fragments of ourselves and create wholeness. Likewise,
when doing physical Yoga, which means Union in Sanskrit -
every inhalation and exhalation of the breath stitches our
physical body to the etheric body. In this tradition, it is
the etheric body that heals first, the physical is actually the
emanation of what's happening on the etheric level. This is
expressed in the adage "We are not physical beings having
a Spiritual experience, we are Spiritual beings having a physical
experience." Think about this the next time a doctor sutures you
back together with stitches and you'll more than likely heal
much faster!
***
Just a small portion of my thread collection...
The books are organized into very "I can do this" sized individual
signatures and so far I have made three signatures - organized,
of course, by color. Below are a few of photos of a pastel
version - pale roses, aqua tissue, creamy paint chips. My work
table (and just about every other space in my house) is currently
covered with old papers and bits and bobs. I stitch and
breathe and with every thrumm of my sewing machine, I
feel a tiny bit more of clear and beauty in both the
physical and etheric spaces around me, rather than clutter
and frustation. Finally! A New Year' resolution that is working!
Cover
Inside Pages
"Bestow Upon Me this Fragrant Night, Your Love" - journal page detail
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end notes
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