Ebbs and flows

 

Ebb and flow - the sea smoothes the sand and gives a clean surface to mark again. 

With most things, we have the chance to start again. It may take a few waves to remove all the marks from the sand, but eventually there is a clean canvas to start again. With art, it is possible to just turn the page/white or black out the canvas/unravel the knitting and make a new start. 

Do better!

Inform yourself.  

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou.

I'm reading Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad at the moment. It's challenging, in your face, and a completely necessary read. As a white cis woman I have a lot of privilege that is not always easy to see when you were born with it and live surrounded by it. I do my best to be informed, reading widely and learning how to do better. I fail a lot, but I try to learn from it. 

The more you know, the more you can see. The better informed you are, the better equipped you are to speak out and do the work of antiracism. It's hard, uncomfortable work, and it will take a lifetime, but it is worth it to give dignity, a listening ear, and love to our brothers and sisters. 

Are you prepared to inform yourself?

Halfway

 

When the job is half done, look at how far you've come, not just how far you have to go.

It is so easy, when we are in the middle of something, to only see how much more there is to do. This is how I feel about our garden at the moment. We have had the perfect weather to make the weeds proliferate like I've never seen before. Anyone seeing our garden would think it is a complete mess (which it is!). What they can't see is that I filled two green bins this week clearing the 'lawn' of weeds. It is better than it was. There is only so much time (and so much space in the bin) to get on with the job. But I have made significant progress. And once the bins have been emptied, I'll be able to make some more. 

Take the time to see how far you have come, and celebrate it. You've done the work. Yes, there's more work to be done, but you're in it, doing it, making progress.

Fly!

 

Don't rest so long that you forget how to fly.

There are times when we need to step back from something and rest. Rest is good and necessary. But it can be easy then to never step back up again. The longer we stay away from something the more our 'muscles' for it weaken. We can be aware of that weakening and that can make us more nervous of stepping up again. We get used to walking around instead of flying the way we were born to.

So enjoy your rest, but don't forget to stretch those wings and take to the sky again.