Lately every time I read the news, I wind up feeling like I just ingested a fire hydrant’s worth of heartbreak and misery. And the tragedies just keep on coming; a new day, a new disappointment. All of the heinous news is compounded by the fact that nowadays the news cycle is so frantic and immediate that we often know of events in near real time. We find out about mass shootings while perusing social media for fun quilt pics. Not to mention that we now have photo and video footage of everything. Gosh and we also have to contend with all of the manipulated untruths spewed out by entire “news” organizations with political agendas. It is a lot to handle. How are we supposed to stay knowledgeable about current affairs without becoming full of anguish?
I am an empath; I am sensitive, caring and concerned about others. I have known this my whole life, but recently at work I took a Meyers-Briggs test and holy moly, my score confirmed this trait. Having empathy is a superpower, and also incredibly exhausting. Us folks have to continually balance our care for others with care for ourselves. Boundaries become very important for us, otherwise we get trampled. When you naturally have a lot of empathy, news consumption is something that can take a toll. But for me, being engaged is also a part of my identity.
Instead of only fretting about the state of the world, I find peace when I take action, however large or small the act may be. This little spring inspired 12.5″ quilt block will become part of a community quilt organized by two incredible creatives to raise money for organizations working in Sudan. This community quilt will feature blocks from various makers, which will be arranged and beautifully hand quilted by Laura, one of the organizers. When complete, this gorgeous community quilt will be raffled to raise money which will directly help Sudanese organizations. This quilt for Sudan is one in a series of community quilts and I so appreciate how the organizers and participants take action. There are so many ways that quilts better this world, and in my experience, quilters are incredibly generous folks. To learn more about the project on Instagram, you can follow the hashtag quiltsforsudan, and the organizers Laura (mender.maker) and Tenille (tenillefati). I have the upmost respect and admiration for what these women contribute to the world. It is an honor to contribute to this quilt. If you are not on social media and interested in this quilt, contact me through my website and I’ll let you know when you can purchase a raffle ticket.
The block design is called a rail fence and is very popular. I recently started experimenting with this block using scraps and different width strips. While crafting a larger project out of non-uniform sized stripes, I fell head over heels for the movement of the interconnected blocks. Stay tuned for more on this. The reason I chose the rail fence design for this community quilt is because we are all connected, just like these pieces of fabric. One more time, all together now: we are ALL connected.
Although I often work through some of my tougher emotions through quilting (remember rage stitching?), a conversation I had recently with another sewist has deeply affected me. She is in the process of making a pow wow jingle dress for her daughter and we discussed just how important it is to inject only positive energy into the dress. She elaborated and said that when she’s too tired or not in a positive state of mind, she just won’t sew because she doesn’t want any of that energy transferred into the ceremonial dress. This practice makes complete sense to me and got me thinking of times I’ve eaten something and it tasted off, with no discernable reason why. The reason probably had more to do with the energy of the preparer versus the actual ingredients. So I took her advice to heart with this block and went for good vibes only. The tunes for this quilt had to be the king of good vibes himself: Jon Batiste.
The first time I heard a song from Jon Batiste’s mega-award winning album We Are, I was immediately intrigued. The first song I heard was “We Are” which features a marching band. (Specifically, the award winning super famous St. Augustine marching band from New Orleans.) Because I grew up with a high school football field across the street from my house, a little piece of my heart belongs to marching band music. When I finally listened to the whole album, I kept saying “wow” over and over while grooving on the couch. Jon has said that the record is meant to be listened to whole, that each song is a chapter. This album is so unique that it really is more like a book. Listening to a whole album is one of life’s true pleasures, especially this one! I named this block after the song “I Need You” because we all need each other to keep this ship afloat.
Immediately following the completion of the block to the album We Are, I made a couple of bourbon cocktails and we watched (albeit a very low quality, seasick-inducing bootleg video of) Jon Batiste’s recent New Orleans Jazz & Heritage set. Damn, if that wasn’t just one of the greatest performances ever! He had the St. Augustine marching band, a full gospel choir, an Indigenous percussion group AND the best dancers you’ve EVER seen with him on stage. I cannot put it into words other than to say it wasn’t a performance, it was pure magic.
In a conversation with his wife, the amazingly talented writer Suleika Jaouad, Jon stated that “joy is a practice”. With his infectious smile, you realize the man takes this practice to heart. It is true, joy does require practice just as gratitude requires continual work. In this heavy world, it is healthy and understandable to experience all of the emotions, to be anxious, irate, depressed and exasperated. True positivity is accepting the ups with the downs and not giving into toxic positivity (i.e. the everything happens for a reason or life doesn’t give you things you can’t handle b.s.). Having been a victim of toxic positivity, I work HARD to strengthen both my gratitude and joy muscles without falling prey to the idea that I must always be happy. Happiness, including that taught by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is not all smiley emojis and unicorns, but instead more about contentment, commitment and continual practice.
For the inevitable times when I’m down on the state of the world, I ‘ve got a few tools stashed in my toolbox to help ride out the wave/s. (Excellent analogies courtesy of therapy.) My salves are hugs (obviously), nature, deep breathing exercises (alternative nostril breathing is my jam), music (especially those dopamine producing Meters albums), making and participation. If I can spend some time cooking or crafting, fantastic. Although I will now be more cognizant of the energy I impart while making… But being out in nature, now that’s where I really experience joy. Even simply watering my baby vegetables and watching the bees on dandelions is often enough. Other days I need a larger dose of nature, and thankfully the balsamroot in central Washington state are putting on a Jon-Batiste-at-Jazz-Fest level performance right now.
Despite my deployment of all the above tools, it is the small things we do for one another that restore my confidence in the world. Yesterday, I felt crummy after fasting for a medical test so the technician offered to get me some apple juice. When she returned with an incredible coconut water electrolyte drink, I exclaimed “Wow, this office has the best drinks!” after I’d chugged about a quarter of it. She replied, “Isn’t that great? It’s from my lunch and snack stash in the fridge because you deserve something better than apple juice.” She gave me, her patient, a part of her lunch, just because! Her singular act was so heartfelt and really reminded me how much we need each other. I need you and you need me, because we are all connected.
Album listened to: Jon Batiste We Are.
Quiltunes 