Ebb & Flow
A constant in Life
Dear Friend and Fellow Maker,
Have you ever stood at the edge of the ocean, watching waves come crashing into shore? Have you noticed there is this lovely space just after a wave has tumbled over and it is quietly, softly moving toward the sandy beach? Then it seems, it has no choice but to magically begin to reverse direction, pulling at your feet (if you’re standing in the pooled waters) and gathering speed as it recedes, rushing to become and to join yet another monstrous swoosh of foamy waters.
1Apparently the receding part is called Ebb. Whereas the movement to shore is considered Flow. I prefer Flow. That quiet space just after a big push through something possibly difficult or grand (or both) where all around you is tinkling droplets and soothing foam. When I start to feel the undercurrent tug at my feet, I resist, desiring to remain in that delicious outflow of pure water. Once the receding begins, it pulls sand and muck along with it and I know it is headed for yet another arch of big energy. I suppose this is why I so enjoy tubing down a gentle river with someone at the end to pick me up and take me home.
Yet despite my preference for Flow, I’m learning to find it in the ebbing and even in the crashing. Oh my … I am not an expert at this, for certain! But simple practices help me along the ever changing rhythms that Life seems to constantly bring. This school year provided an opportunity to observe this ebb & flow as I worked part-time in a small private school. Nearing the end of the school year (which was this past Friday) felt like being carried along by a massive wave which abruptly crashed to shore and I am now enjoying that lovely space of tiny rippling waves rolling ever so gently into summer.
2Yet even as I type those last words, I can feel the hint of something starting up again. Something which will indeed require effort and likely gather force and strength along the way, perhaps catching up into its pull all sorts of other things I may not have counted on. We shall see how this goes and I will report to you along the way. But I am intending to find Flow even in the ebb of shifting directions.
One way I can find Flow in the ebb and crash of living is by simply stopping resisting it! Ha! So much easier said than done, but the tiny efforts I make to just relax back into little pockets of peace and joy help to carry me along instead of striving to resist the pull. Drawing in my sketchbook, spinning a bit of pink wool, weaving a word for my own encouragement…these are the little pockets I can visit even briefly to restore a small sense of flow.
3I will be back soon dear Reader. There are many of you who are new to this space and I am heartily grateful for your company here. I will make a proper introduction to my world of making which keeps tumbling along, sometimes seemingly haphazardly, but always towards an end which I may not ever truly see or understand. Do the waves even know what they are doing, where they are going? They simply are what they were created to be…ebbing and flowing as they have been created to do.
May you find flow in all your ebbing and crashing of daily life! Pick up your knitting needles, your paint brush and enter that flow of creativity that soothes and inspires.
Tumbling along with you all,
Jennifer
P.S. For those who may be wondering…my mom is amazingly still with us, albeit in her own little world. My family and I are grateful for each day she has to smile and we marvel at her quirky sense of humor which remains in tact even though Alzheimer’s has taken so much else. This long journey of good-bye is truly a picture of the ebb and flow repeatedly cycling through stages which seem to never end. We know there will be one day. Just not today. 💖
I find collage to be a wonderful way to create a little space for playfulness and flow. One bit of found painted paper leftover from a previous project, seems to work great next to another torn bit of color. One after the other, following only intuition, gluing them down into a pleasing arrangement and then a sailboat, with a mouse, just seems to make sense. Wouldn’t it be great if Life were that simple? 😍
The rhododendron in our area of North Carolina, and also in the mountains where my parents live, have been stunning this year! Right outside my window here in my sunroom studio, this rhodo bloomed to beat the band! I wonder what phrase means or how it came about … hmmm…if you know, do share in the comments! ❤️
This tapestry was a gift and a pleasure to weave! There is now a companion to Bloom…the word Grow! I just haven’t added the embellishments. I will share as soon as it is done and I wish for you all the blooming and growing that seems to flow effortlessly in Nature. May it be so in our lives! 🪴
BLOOM! What a glorious tapestry. Just the thing for this very moment. And oh, those luscious curves you wove....
Jennifer, I take heart from my Rhododendron here in Vermont. Last year, as the buds were about to swell, we were hit by a fierce late frost. They all died. Later three new leaves grew in place of every bud. This year the pink blossoms are the very best I can ever remember.