Life=Fabric

Just noticing how, as Michaelmas and the full moon pass and autumn commences in the Northern Hemisphere, just how, the weaving of each life gets more and more intricate. We are all weavers in my opinion.

When I wove actual fabric, I was always impatient laying on the warp. I did understand that the strength of the warp and its beauty or its subtlety or its complexity, its visibility or invisibility is the backbone of the entire fabric. Lots of decisions at the onset. Shall I have an invisible silk warp, a repeated stripe, a bold contrasting color? You make those decisions knowing that each one will give you plenty of room to play around once you begin to weave the weft. I rushed to get on with the weaving part.

I know this analogy works, but I don't want to over play it. We weave the fabric of our lives, bringing all kinds of threads together in amazing patterns. Lately, for me, the weave is incredibly complex, yet it still looks like the Julie Fabric. Twice in the last week I have been asked "Who are you?" and "What do you do?". Twice, I have been at a loss for what to answer. I kind of blew off the questions, saying "retired." That isn't very polite, I know. But it is a tough question. I have been a school teacher, a political activist, a parent, a meditation teacher, a janitor, a waitress, a Peace Chaplain, a factory worker, a caretaker, a cook (imagine! Bill Banks you deserved better), a book store owner, a hotel manager, a project manager, a land surveyor.....ad nauseum.

In actuality, I still think of myself as a midwife. I have assisted at a lot of births. I am not being literal here. I seem to have a bit of an ability to help other people or groups of people find their power and birth whatever they have been incubating. I have a lot of confidence in other people and can be a fine midwife. Assisting at actual births opened my eyes and heart to the incredible honor it is to help in the birthing process. The various births have been schools, co-ops, peace projects, individual dreams, the courage to change. That there sort of thing.

So, today I am a midwife and today many threads of my life are coming together simultaneously. Any of you can probably give the exact same report. "Not doing much, but it is all good."