Role models and mentors

Recently, a friend mentioned how inspired she was by a talk Andrea Graham gave entitled "Paddle your own Canoe". http://www.andrea-graham.com/about.html.  Already this young woman has had incredible success in every area of her life it seems, but especially...and enviably, as a fibre artist, more than most  will ever achieve regardless of how much they strive. All her circumstances seem to have conspired to create the incredible opportunities and creative life she has. 

Picture taken by a friend of Darryn Crombeen, while visiting Thailand. These people dyed the silk and wove it. 

In the news here in Toronto recently, an 89 year old peace activist by the name of Audrey Tobias won her court case for refusing to fill out a federal census form, because "Lockheed Martin , the American arms manufacturer, .....provided the software Statistics Canada used to process the information. Tobias said the publicity of last week’s one-day trial pleased her.....“I wanted to make the point that our government is on the wrong path, vis-à-vis the way it handles its military and defence,” Tobias said. “Do you think I made that point? I think I did. " http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/10/09/audrey_tobias_89yearold_census_refuser_to_find_out_fate_wednesday.html. 

 Karin Domnick, a recent arrival to our weaving class, has had many weaving adventures. Here one in Mexico. 

This connects with a review I read recently of Malcolm Gladwell's newly released book, David and Goliath. 
"In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell, with his unparalleled ability to grasp connections others miss, uncovers the hidden rules that shape the balance between the weak and the mighty, the powerful and the dispossessed. Gladwell examines the battlefields of Northern Ireland and Vietnam, takes us into the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, and digs into the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms–all in an attempt to demonstrate how fundamentally we misunderstand the true meaning of advantages and disadvantages. When is a traumatic childhood a good thing? When does a disability leave someone better off? Do you really want your child to go to the best school he or she can get into? Why are the childhoods of people at the top of one profession after another marked by deprivation and struggle?" 

Karin Domnick, a silversmith, also visited this Japanese weaver on her travels. 

The subject came up yet again when I was driving a couple of weaving students to the subway. One mentioned that she was sent a link about a contest of sorts to win a spot to be mentored for a weaving experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHjvzOEbWd8&feature=youtu.be
It doens't matter how old we are, we naturally seek out people, usually older than us and often more experienced, that for us represent how we want to live our lives, and the kind of people we want to shape ourselves to be. Audrey is definitely on my list , and there are many women her age that  inhabit my list along with her. Somehow they've maintained a vitality, still have ideals and qualities that I admire. Somehow, they've managed to live  a life that is true to themselves, that is authentic and not prescribed. They are my role models and offer me other ideas about how to live ones life. More recently, I see that I too am a mentor for other women....some younger, some not. It doesn't matter where one is along that continuum, of seeking to live an authentic, and meaningful life, we need to be able to envision what that looks like, what it sounds like, what it feels like.....we need to examine every dimension of our lives and remove all that is not enabling us to reach our 'best self' as Oprah would say. When we don't live the kind of life we envision for ourselves, we start to feel that ache inside and a sense that we are not truly living our lives, but only going through the motions described by the parameters of societal and family expectations. In short, it takes courage to live that kind of life because we must risk: risk looking like a fool, of failing...of not always being certain of what the outcomes will be and where our choices will lead us, but it's even riskier to one's well being if you don't take the risk at all. I may not achieve or accomplish all that I aspire, but I sure will try. 

Arlette Schulman submitted this tapestry woven shape for the international tapestry project. 

I find this theme connects also with Fate, Destiny and Self-Determination/le sort, destin et l'auto-determination international tapestry project that I have undertaken. Fate is defined as a force, energy, principle, element or power that prescribes to each person a set of limits, boundaries and confines. In Islam it is called Kismet.The Greeks called Fate, Moira. Greek Mythology speaks of the three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos who supposedly controlled each person’s fate. The youngest, Clotho,  is a spinner and she determines the time of birth and spins the thread of life on her distaff. Lachesis measures the length of the thread to determine the length of one’s life; the time of death is decided by Atropos, who cuts the thread. Inherent in the idea of Fate, is that one has no influence over events and outcomes. Mythology and psychology distinguish between Fate and Destiny. Destiny, is considered an expanding field of possibilities alluding to our potential to influence our Fate. This makes Destiny kinetic. “The lives we construct are an inextricably woven fabric of influences, possibilities and accumulated consequences of choices made.” (What Matters Most, James Hollis). You are never too old and it is never too late to make your life into what you want it to be.