Day 15... the moon

“I like to think that the moon is there, even if I’m not looking at it.”

— Albert Einstein

Yesterday marked the new moon… a time in the lunar cycle symbolic of new beginnings.

A new moon…

solstice in a week…

a new year on the horizon…

An opportunity to reset our frame of mind.

Yet when I look follow the ebb and flow of the lunar phases and intentionally pause to gaze at the moon, I often think about others in far away places who can also see the moon.

Regardless of where we are, we all see the same moon albeit at different times of the day.

One moon for the inhabitants of this blue dot… connected.

The moon…

up and down in the night sky

powerful from so far away,

the waters dance to her rhythm….

in and out.

the snow sparkles like diamonds laying on the valley floor.

Her luminous light casts tree shadows in the pre-dawn hours.

The moon provides a natural calendar for us to follow… almost monthly. With an opportunity to start a-new, to be creative (from now until the full moon) and then slowly let go (from the full moon to the new moon).

The new moon, a pause and a threshold to new beginnings.

It’s always there whether we look at it or not.

yet, looking up to gaze at the moon and feel connected to others in far away places is a powerful act of peace.

Peace tip #15

Make a plan, a peace plan.

Draw 3 small circles (the size of a quarter)…

the one on the left, color it in a dark color; label it “new moon”

the middle one, draw a vertical line within the circle creating two half circles, color half of it dark, the other half light; label it solstice.

the one on the right, color all bright; label it “full moon.”

For the new moon, what’s one new beginning you might adopt related to peace.

For the solstice, what’s one way you might connect with others during a pandemic that you can continue in the new year… something that brings you “light.”

For the full moon, what’s one thing you can let go of.

And if you don’t want to draw, then just jot a few things down.

Updates

Yeterday, marks the end of week #2 and another gift-away. My dear friend, Susan has generously provided a give-away again this year. And it is filled with islands treasures… some small-batch yarn from the Isle of Skye, a pattern to knit a croft hoose, and a copy of the Shetland Wool Adventure journal published by Misa Hay.

How to on the give-away: Leave a comment on Day 14 by the end of Wednesday. Email me if you would rather not comment on the website (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com). I’ll announce a winner on Thursday (Day 17) here on the website. If you are the lucky recipient, you’ll need to send me an email so that I can get your address. Plus on Day 17, there’s a little something for everyone!

Thank you again to all who are reading, following along, and commenting. I genuinely appreciate the level of engagement this year. It certainly helps to keep me going in the early mornings when I write knowing that people are reading.

Day 14... Oxna

“Sheltered and isolated by the water that is at the same time an open possibility. A possibility one never considers.”

— Tove Jansson

It was the summer of 2016, and I had the opportunity to spend time on 2 islands… Martha’s Vineyard and Shetland. The first in solitude, the other with a group of strangers, some of whom would become incredible friends. While staying on Martha’s Vineyard, I turned to the television for a little noise to distract myself from the abrupt shift from a busy, chaotic life filled with work and children to the now long days of quiet. I’d been so looking forward to the solitude but the drastic transition was more than I had anticipated. I found myself watching a documentary about how waste water is treated on the island.

Where does all the waste go when one lives on an island? This question quickly snowballed…

Where does the drinking water come from?

What about the food?

And the garbage?

My travels by foot and bike around the island came to have a new purpose. ..To consider what it means to live on an island. How dependent we’ve become…

Fast forward 3 months to Shetland and again… the same questions. Food, water, garbage, waste, electricity… my mind was on overdrive (in a very good way).

This spring, I noticed a post on Instagram by @shetlandwithlaurie mentioning a very tiny island off the coast of Shetland where her great, great (maybe more greats) grandparents used to live… Oxna. It is now uninhabited… I was captivated.

Where did the food come from? Fresh water? Waste? How did they survive the harsh winter?

I contacted Laurie and asked her about about Oxna and her ancestors.

Fish and root vegetables, that’s what they ate … they worked hard all summer to prepare for winter.

I asked her what it must have been like to be so isolated. Her reply has continued to capture my imagination.

“You are thinking about this from a modern perspective. Those that lived on Oxna were thought of as ‘very well off.’ See, the fishing on the other side of the island was some of the best and those living there had direct access. The sea was the highway and they could easily get to places others might not be able to. Those living a mile inland on the main island were the ones that were isolated.”

The sea as the highway…

our perspective has shifted.

What was once considered a highly regarded place is no longer.

I have spent many a walk pondering my conversation with Laurie. Islands not only require one to think about how humans survive (food, water, shelter)…

but provide a canvas to ponder “perspective”…

“… the highway of the sea.”

This year’s illustration for Project Peace was inspired by Oxna. The croft hoose sits on an island…

Peace tip #14

Perspective is an important attribute of peace. Island living and the story of Oxna provide perspectives we might not have considered as part of "peace in place.” The perspective of how things used to be and what was valued. As well as not taking for granted how our basic needs are met (e.g. food, water, shelter)…

Perspective and peace… how are they related?

Updates:

Today marks the end of week #2 and another gift-away. My dear friend, Susan has generously provided a give-away again this year. And it is filled with islands treasures… some small-batch yarn from the Isle of Skye, a pattern to knit a croft hoose, and a copy of the Shetland Wool Adventure journal published by Misa Hay. I was fortunate to work with Misa in 2018 when I visited Shetland to create a university study abroad on “Sustainability, Nutrition and Nature.” The study abroad experience was inspired by my first trip… “where does the food come from and the garbage go?” The “journal” is all things wonderful about Shetland.

How to on the give-away: Leave a comment related to today’s post by the end of Wednesday. Email me if you would rather not comment on the website (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com). I’ll announce a winner on Thursday (Day 17) here on the website. If you are the lucky recipient, you’ll need to send me an email so that I can get your address. Plus on Day 17, there’s a little something for everyone!

Thank you again to all who are reading, following along, and commenting. I genuinely appreciate the level of engagement this year. It certainly helps to keep me going in the early mornings when I write knowing that people are reading.

If you want to learn more about all things Shetland, I highly recommend following Laurie Goodlad on Instagram (@shetlandwithlaurie) or her website.

Day 13... balance

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

— Unknown

The school girls laugh with glee, running from the slide to the swing to the monkey bars… One girl turns the other, no words exchange, a glance to the other side of the playground, a nod and a bolt to the teeter-totter.

All aboard on the see-saw, up and down, up and down and then as if that wasn’t enough, the games begin.

“Let’s see if we can keep one high in the air… size wins. The lighter of the two remains high in the sky at the mercy of the one with more weight. The cruel playground experience would have the light one plummeting to the ground with a quick dismount by the one in control. However, two can play at that game with a nimble move by the one in the air, catapulting the heavier one into the sky.

Neither is fun for the one that’s been jolted.

Yet, enter the scenario of 2 collaborative participants… the school girls strive to make the teeter-totter remain stable, both in the air, at equal heights.

Balance.

The energy required to maintain balance is enormous. Just as the teeter-totter needs attention, focus, cooperation and constant input to achieve balance, it is also true in our own lives.

And once that personal balance is achieved, is it a fleeting moment or one that can be sustained?

Perhaps balance isn’t the goal…

might we rather be better suited to learn how to adapt to the ups and downs, the soaring, the fast plummets, and the occasional moment of “balance?”

To be grounded…

Grounded is one of those terms with so many meanings and can easily become another “buzz” world much like balance.

What does it mean to be grounded? I chuckle as I know my father, an electrical engineer would have his own definition of “grounded” that is far removed from it’s meaning today.

To me, it represents a connection to the land and nature. When I’m on the teeter-totter of life with a feeling of being “out of balance,” I head to the woods. The more I walk through the trees hovering above all the hidden roots of their underground world, I begin to feel connected to things that matter most.

Peace tip #13
Balance is a temporary moment in time that leaves us constantly working to the next moment of “balance.” This process can be quite draining. To be grounded might allow us to be more resilient. “Being grounded” might just be another version for “peace.” Recall, that peace can be defined as “right and just relationships with self, others, and the Earth.”

Today, chose an activity that “grounds you,” whether it’s knitting, drinking coffee, eating a meal, reading, or walking, your choice. Think about all the others that are involved with your activity. For example, you are knitting… you purchased your yarn from the local yarn store and you had to drive to get there. Who was involved with making the car, providing the gas for the car, the postal carrier who delivered the yarn to the store, all those involved with working in the store, the person who raised the sheep… How many people are involved in this one act of knitting.

Connected, relationships, grounded… are all landmarks on our path of “peace in place.”

How are peace and being grounded related?

Day 12... a path

Camino de paz… a path to peace.

Won’t you build me a path so I know where to go? … like the hiking trail through the forest. Someone else who has been here before is showing you the way…

What if the path is not visible?

What if the journey is filled with doubt and confidence, joy and sorrow?

What if each one of us is to create our own path?

What if everything you once knew to be true was suddenly changed?

Your way of doing is disrupted…

How will you shift to a way of being and not doing?

As I write this, the first snow has fallen and the night is giving way to the new day.

Madruga (n): the moment at dawn when the night meets the day.

This moment in time with coffee in hand, the snow on the trees, covering the garden, the wind navigating it’s ways through the woods… this is peace. One I’d like to bottle and save forever. It feels like this must be a resting point along the path of peace.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. No links provided. Please consider purchasing from your local and/or independent book store.

And what I’ve written thus far, feels like a lot of “what if’s” and a description of the pandemic which is certainly not my intent with this musing. Rather, today is focused on a specific book… The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.

The book begins with a map.

Sometimes losing everything … you find your way.

“We stood at the front door, the bailiffs on the other side waiting to change the locks, to bar us from our old lives. We were about to leave the dimly lit, centuries-old house that had held us cocooned for twenty years. When we walked through the door, we would never ever come back.

We held hands and walked into the light.” ~Raynor Winn, The Salt Path

The Salt Path is a memoir of a couple in their 50’s who lost their home, all their savings and the husband, Moth is diagnosed with a terminal illness. While it sounds tragic, the story is one filled with hope, love, and peace. About finding themselves when all seemed lost.

When there is no home and everything you’ve ever known is gone… you walk and walk and walk for no other reason than it’s the only way forward. At least this is how Raynor and Moth chose to face their predicament.

Raynor and Moth walked 630 miles along the rugged South West Coast path, redefining what home means, ultimately finding peace in place. Wherever that place may be.

Peace is here in this moment, in the tiny space of nothing and everything all mixed together. This moment is the place of peace, not a destination, perhaps the Camino de Paz is filled with a collection of moments that ultimately define peace.

like a trail lined with rocks… a sequence of moments,

or a cairn… a stack of moments.

Peace tip #12

Take some time today to read a book. I highly recommend The Salt Path. I resisted reading it for some time however, once I began, I was mesmerized.

Do you have a good fiction, non-fiction, or memoir book recommendation that is focused on peace? Please share… let’s create a peaceful reading list.

Update

Our next wonderful give-away will begin on Day 14… and the gift is a lovely Shetland themed collection.

Oh, the map comments were incredible!!! The magic of maps. I’m so happy that people chose to write about some wonderful memories and people in their lives. Isn’t it amazing how maps truly connect us, in so many ways.

As a reminder, I’ll be providing an extra special give-away at the end of the 21 days. If you submit a meaningful comment each day (or email it to me), you’ll be eligible to have your name in a drawing. I’m doing this because it truly helps us build community, a vital component of peace. Also, your ideas and suggestions may be just what sparks and idea for someone else. Thank you! FYI… I’ve decided to do this based on the honor system. At the end of the 21 days, I’ll provide some additional details.

It’s never too late to participate in the knit-along. It’s so fun to read how people are using their peace shawl (or other knitting project) to center themselves and reflect on peace. Knowing that 100’s of others are knitting the same project as you around the world in the name of peace is a powerful thing. The pattern is available on Ravelry and The Healthy Knitter website.