A Beautiful Practice
Your life has been designed
Colours and moods carefully chosen
Some looking and feeling like others
Similarities easily seen
(Sometimes not)
But still,
The beauty of what you didn’t choose is not always apparent, in the way that the beauty that you did choose is
Especially at the point of cutting that beauty into pieces.
The pattern’s not always easily discernible
You squint at the pages, hoping to make sense of it all
But as a beginner, one learning, it’s not always clear
So we cut through, aiming to go straight
(Sometimes aiming for the curve)
But trusting the Writer of the pattern
To lead you towards a beautiful ending
Each stitch, each step taking you away from fear
A beautiful practice
This journey, this life
Such a beautiful practice
At times so tiring, so frustrating,
So inspiring and uninspiring
So you walk away today
To return with new eyes tomorrow.
You begin to see on your return
The way forward and the common threads,
The pieces that were missing;
You choose to alter the pattern
(But did you really alter it?)
Choosing and knowing it’s best to go your own way
So you begin piecing the pieces back together
Earbuds in and buzzing to your fav podcast
Or other good Word
Just sailing away on the new wave of confidence
And the pattern begins to take shape.
And you like the choices
And you rip the seams less
And you gain the necessary experience
and know-how
Finally able to see and say, “I’m ok, and loving this.”
Or, “let’s keep going, let’s learn more.”
Whole parts of yourself start to form,
Laid out, orderly like the blocks on a wall
And where you’re going becomes apparent
The road less hazy, less foggy
A break in the clouds,
Light streaming through to brighten your way.
The surface is complete
The inner well-chosen, a thing to keep warm
The back, the past, a thing to marvel at
Just like the surface
At this point, worry is not an issue like you thought it would be
You take up your sword
And glide easily across the surface to completion,
Binding all the parts of you,
Stamping it with your stamp
Until at last, you see that all of your striving
Has been a labor of Love
Seeing with clear sight
That life is like a quilt,
or quilting is like life.
Tenille Fatimah
Tenille is an avid quilter & natural dyer currently living off-grid with her family in rural GA. She is a mother of six and a die-hard Star Wars fan. You can find her on Facebook talking about hiphop, social issues, quilts and her homestead at Tenille Fatimah and on IG showcasing her quilts & dye experiments @tenillefati.