The Master Weaver
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The Master Weaver
A picture of a sunset with the sunlight weaving through the clouds as if a mater weaver had done the work.
The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Dear Reader,
May this reflection find you well. Grab a cup of coffee. It's storytime.
A master weaver ran a shop full of apprentices that wove tapestries. The apprentice weavers worked all day at their looms, creating beautiful fabrics out of dozens of colors of yarn. The master walked around, offering tips, advice, and checking on their progress. Frequently, one of the apprentices would make a mistake and call the master over. The master would examine the error, look at the overall design, ask a few questions for clarification and then pick up the needle, and begin to correct the flaw.
On some repairs, the master would have to untie the threads and recreate the correct pattern. On other lapses, the master would weave a new design into the "mistake" and create an original "master" piece. Thus, when the master sold the completed tapestries at auction, the rugs with the most "errors" usually sold for the most money. It turns out that "the most errors" also meant more time in the master's hands. And the master's talent was the desired product by the purchasers.
How does this apply to your life? There are several ways, I am sure. Two of the ways that I can see relate to what happened after a weaver made a mistake, and the time the master took to repair the flaw.
The apprentice had to recognize and accept the error. In your case, the mistake or lapse might be a metaphor for your suffering. One has to realize and admit one is suffering before one can make changes. Secondly, after the master saw the flaw, the master would have to expend some energy (suffering) to investigate and understand the mechanics of the error. Then the master would have to spend further energy (suffering) to undo/redo or weave the mistake into a new design. No matter which path the master chose, there was suffering.
Suffering is a consequence of our actions and also a teacher of better methods. Our brains, for survival reasons, have hardwired the command of "seek pleasure and avoid pain." Unfortunately, parts of our brain equate pain (physical) with suffering (mental). Thus, when we are not in physical danger, but we are feeling discomfort, our brains react to "seek pleasure and avoid suffering." This belief then motivates us to stay in the same repetitive loop of suffering as we try to avoid the suffering of investigation and new creation. Society knows this through the aphorism: Better the devil we know than the devil we don't. Or the even better-known version: It's better to stick with the suffering that we do know won't kill us because the suffering we don't know might, possibly, kill us. (Personally, I think the latter phare is way more catchy)
As you ponder and hopefully smile at this Blair talk, Please consider this. You are the master weavers of your life, and you will do a much better job if you pay attention to what's not working for you. Your fulfillment will show itself in a myriad of subtle ways to your family and friends. Thus, enjoy your work and make your life better. What's not to lose? Frequently we get so caught up in a survival mindset (pay the bills, keep the family happy, keep the customer's happy ...all at the expense of the joy you get from your work). There is a way to meet your survival needs while you thoroughly enjoy your work. It starts with Self-Compassion.
Self-Compassion is treating yourself the way you genuinely want to be treated. The foundation of Self-Compassion is Awareness. And Awareness is much more comfortable with a guide. Please contact me for more information.
May you have some peace today.
Blair
Posted: January 30, 2020
Dear Friend,
Self-Compassion is a skill we tend to learn faster when we learn together. Please sign up for my newsletter, and together, let's create better lives for ourselves. I will only send out a few emails a year.
Thank you.
