Dearest Needleworking Friends,
This is a quiet moment nearing the end of the daylight, and so 
and I are slowing down following a rather stimulating day (to say the least)… A wee cat is fighting for her life in our upstairs bathroom, and my shoulders are almost up to my ears with tension for her: she was out on the street at the back of my house, displaying symptoms of poisoning. Whilst she is resting and perking up fractionally from having been treated with a homeopathic remedy Lachesis, I’ve been making the first lines of stitches on a brand new sewing machine. It is a day of much joy and a bit of heartbreak.
the original jacket and skirt, back in Portugal, in December
Sundays are a great time to organise the mind and the house, thankfully. We went to the market in our town this morning, after my solo visit yesterday by bus to the bigger market (and the 50c stall!) down in the valley.
The house is full of new fabrics and garments – some to be worn directly, and some to be cut up - like the mustard jacket that I butchered, to make pockets and edging for the turquoise wool skirt.
Amongst all the drama going on in this ‘sleepy’ medieval quarter, coming back to sewing, shopping on a seriously discounted market stall, and hunting for a new sewing machine – all bring me back to my core passions, which fires up my creativity, and greatly nurtures my vision to be surrounded by colourful and meaningful things - and love.
Keeping the vibrations high and the love flowing does not seem to be an issue for my Beloved and I, which is the hugest blessing of my whole life, particularly following a terrible tortuous previous relationship, but also alongside the unfolding events of planet earth – which for the major part are going in the Right direction, but which do still have an immensely steep climb out of the darkness….
Moments like this in the microcosm of Guardia Sanframondi and my life in the Arthouse, make me feel more than ever that our collective cocreation is evolving: that we are bringing things to the fore and into the light - and that ultimately we are moving towards healing from the most sordid, polemic and distorted of realities – into far easier times. It is not easier for wee creatures like this poor little puss, nor for a great swathe of humanity who are outsourcing their sacred genius and sovereignty to external forces who wish them the very worst… But for those of us riding the cosmic waves, seeing through the illusion and taking care of whatever is unfolding around us with loving kindness – life is hard but essentially phenomenally Good (Good in the deepest, whole-est and most full-filling of senses).
Life Makes Sense, and is sensorially harmonious.
And as a visionary artist, this sense of things being as they ‘should’ be, and becoming more of what they ‘should’ be, permeates into all areas of life, saturating even my clunky and whacky big skirt (laboured over for days and weeks, hand-stitched to the end!) and my first attempts to get a Much More Hi-Tech Than I Am Used To sewing machine to follow my orders.
Times like these, I feel a deeper faith, trust and enjoyment of life than I ever did before – and this comes out in my relationship, my home, and my activities. Even if no-one will ever buy my unusual creations, or (but me!) wear them – as with my paintings in my previous career, I know that there is (significant) value and purpose to my bringing them into the world.
Maybe they come into being just to be shared virtually through blogging! Sometimes I think of my earlier incarnation as an artist, and how I strove and worried consistently about having an audience; how this preoccupation ate away at my time, energy and attention – instead of nourishing my passions… And I feel wholly more free to simply Be these days, and to allow the simple pleasures of things like sewing, to give my Life depth and colour.
Previously, I felt compelled to ‘contribute’ to ‘culture’, but now it feels much more apt to work from the centre outwards, locally, and quietly online in a community like this precious one. Humbly and gently, stitching Life into Alignment. Thank you for your witness here, dear Friends, and may the Vital Force be with you, these intense days of transformation on our beautiful Gaia Sophia.
