Peyote, Dreams and Breath of Life

"What orbit of the planets has put you and me in this place, at this moment? Where time takes a breath, and we dance on the edge of our dreams?" Anonmyous
Time seems to have flown by in a whirlwind this month. A trip to the sea, reconnecting with old friends, a couple of workshops, learning new stitchery things, sketching and painting, museums, walking,and now... resting, as the latest cold bug has gotten hold of me to slow me down. But not for long, as the gleam on the horizon is calling to me, and there are more trips to plan, and national parks to see and much to do...

Peyote
The picture above is of peyote stitch band bracelets I made this month. It doesn't do justice to the lovely shimmer and pattern of the beads. Thanks to my friend Wilma, in one of my sewing groups, who taught us how to do it. I started one in our meeting, went home and finished it, and loved the process so much, made three more. Now I am in process of making another, blue and white, I find it rather zen-like to sit and stitch slowly in the pattern. The first two thinner bands are a bit "wonky", they don't lay perfectly flat, as I was stitching too tightly, but I've learned to loosen up the threads making the whole piece more flexible. Hmm, there's a metaphor in there. And I wonder how the stitch got it's name...

Dreams
I spent a day in a Jungian dream analysis workshop with a long time friend. My formal education and studies included some former training in this subject, and I always found it so fascinating. I haven't tracked those nocturnal stories in the theatre of my mind for a long time, but I have been lately. Process work, it can be heady stuff, where do those strange little vignettes come from... that raw archetypal material that floats up, hidden in our own personal symbols. Pay attention, see if you can decipher them.

Breath of Life
And I spent a day taking an Adult 1st Aid/CPR class from the Red Cross too with my instructor husband. The class is well worth taking, and I urge you to do it and keep your skills up. Did you know that with every 1 minute of delay, there is a corresponding 10% less chance of survival. And if you are lucky it might take the 911 Aid response 5 minutes to arrive on the scene. Think about that. SO, your CPR efforts for a few minutes might save your loved one, or a friend, or even a stranger...

Here are the new CPR models we had to practice on. Red Cross replaced the pink "Resussa Annie's" with these blue models called "Actar" (interesting, I kept thinking of them as "avatars", by the way, we saw the movie this month too, it was terrific!). They are kind of strange looking. And I took a couple minutes to quick sketch one. They aren't too scary. Do check out the Red Cross and either donate for Haiti or consider taking a class (take your spouse or a friend too).Meanwhile, take some deep breathes and concentrate on them, in/out... the little miracles that sustain us in life, just breathing. What could be more important...