The Lives of Others

This week, I ventured out to one of my first social gatherings in over a year.  Early evening light washed the glossy green of the garden and lit up the faces of friends appearing like blossoms - somehow fresh after our long absence. One friend, to my surprise, was newly engaged; another, divorced. One had survived a brain injury; another given birth; another written a book.  Some sold houses, others moved into them; hair colors had evolved; there was a feeling of plates being tossed through the air, landing lightly, but differently, in the hands of a capricious trickster. I found it exhilarating.  While I tunneled through the year head down, keeping Ibu alive, the lives of others were simultaneously shifting under the cover of corona and landing us all in unpredicted places.

While there is strength in carrying on, doing what must be done, there is joy in coming together again, celebrating the bonds that did not break but simply paused for a long quiet drink of solitude.  I had no sense of resuming where we left off.  Things, and people, had changed.  And that is why I found it exciting.  We can come to know one another newly, differently, now - with a vivid awareness of our vulnerable life upon the earth, and gratitude for the days we have together.

In India, covid is raging as never before - the lock-down is severe and the dangers rife for the artisans who crafted this tunic, Obi pants, and chic Dune Robe. With no more orders possible now from India, I want to support the stunning work already complete, and hope that light will soon grace their gatherings as ours, and will brighten their faces as we pick up our work again, together, in sobering, but certain, gratitude. 

All the Best,

SHW