Easter…family together…egg hunt…chocolate bunnies…basket surprises…giant bunny from uncle N….baked ham & bunny cake…fun times…Spring is here! Yeah!
We normally think of time in a linear pattern—from young to old, year to year, A to Z–but perhaps someday quantum physics will show us how it really is not in a stepwise order. The life experience seems sort of circular in pattern and perhaps it is…This weekend was a time for family. As we were reminiscening, I remembered my children and I being like peas in a pod when they were growing up–close together while experiencing daily adventures. Though it has been at least 8 years since my last child left home to begin their own solo life adventure, and though I encouraged their independence, I still miss that closeness.
As other grandparents had already informed me, it is true that being with a grandchild triggers memories that you hold in storage. You remember and relive some of the wonderful moments that you had with your own children…what an amazing gift! And this time, you live with an awareness of how precious these experiences all are—it is like getting a second chance! So, maybe time is more circular than we know…
Some of my latest art pieces have been illustrating the stages of life, infancy through old age, in a more linear manner.
The top piece of my Lifeweaving #3 art quilt is in the final stages of being woven and basted…I still need to weave in the color silver for the decades of ages 60-the mid-80s and gold for ages mid-80s through the 90s. Joan Erikson, wife of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, helped develop the life stages as written in The Life Cycles Completed (1997). They named the strength gained in the stage of ages 60-mid 80s as wisdom. Later, Joan added the ninth stage and identified the strength of the final stage as geotranscendence.
Next, I want to explore visually the idea of life being experienced more in circular or non-linear patterns. These are drawings from my sketchbook that shows this idea has been in incubation for awhile!
The Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) has an on-line Benefit Auction in September. Members donate 12” square art quilts to be auctioned off.–Be sure to check it out!–I am using this as an opportunity to experiment and explore these and other design ideas in this smaller format…stay tuned for that progress and which one will be chosen for donation. I may need your help deciding!
*I’d love to hear your comments…..What do you think about time!?
Joni Beach 
I agree sometimes we look at life as linear but it really moves in a circular form. I think of being a child, having my children and someday being a grandparent. New life, new growth but all in the same direction. They say as you grow older your life becomes simple like when you were a child. I know I want to look at life as a child to enjoy the wonders of nature the changes in life as a joy. I enjoy the breeze on my face in the spring, the clouds and the pictures they make and the smell of dirt after a good rain. These are all memories I have as a child. Enjoying life as it comes is what I want to do the older I get.
Thanks for your ideas.
Tami
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You’re welcome Tami. Don’t you think more awareness has something to do with this enjoyment as we age and grow older? joni
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HiLove The Love Heart on a sand beach, it a beautiful beach brcagkound.Could I use it as my Wed site brcagkound?I would give you full credit for the picture and a link back to your wed site if you whished.ThanksNigel WilliamsEngland
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