The Freedom to gather in small or large groups, without fear, to share ideas, food, thoughts, feelings and creative energy I believe is the foundation of a civilized and conscious country. In Canada we have the ability and freedom to do that. We gather in libraries, churches, community centres, halls, pubs, schools, homes and theatres across the country. These small gatherings are the measure of the health of our society. Connection is created and when each person feels free to bring their gifts, their sorrows, their concerns, and their happiness to the table and sit in the ease of human conviviality good things happen.
This week I sat at the table in The Twisted Purl and felt the amazing power of the small gathering. For about a year a group of women have been meeting each Wednesday around the old maple table that is the centre of the Twisted Purl. This table has a history. It was my Aunt Noel’s buffet kitchen table. It held the food and beverages of 30 years of gatherings. Between gatherings it was stacked with books, mail and the detritus of a well lived life. I bought the table when my Aunt and Uncle died and the Twisted Purl was designed around the energy of the table.
On Wednesday this week, International Women’s Day, my heart filled with the joy of knowing that the legacy of my Aunt Noel’s table continues. Aunt Noel sent me a subscription to MS magazine in 1972. I was 14 and as I read that magazine and the many books that were part of my Mother’s community library, I became a feminist and an independent thinking woman.
My Aunt’s Noel, Jan, Fran, my grandmother and my mother all provided tables around which the world could be changed and rearranged. When you were at their tables you were free to speak your mind, your heart and enjoy amazing food, wine, coffee and always cake.
My wish for you is that there is a table in your life in which you can show up and be at exactly who you are. May this table be the place where your mind, body and soul are nourished and that in doing so the world becomes a better place.
Here’s to Spring,
Love Kathleen
This week’s hat is the” 1898 Hat” pattern by Kristine Byrnes, from the Seaman’s Church Institute’s “Christmas at the Sea” project. It is an incredibly warm hat made with a worsted weight yarn. If you haven’t heard of this project, you can check it out here : Christmas at the Sea. And for the direct link to the pattern, you can click here: 1898 Hat.
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