Not Perfect

Yes, I have a piece of paper that says I am a 'master weaver'.

No, I am not perfect.

Some days I struggle.  With concentration.  With focus.  With brain fog/fatigue.  With co-ordination.

This one little 'flaw'?  Proof that I am human.  I make mistakes.  I struggle, physically, mentally, emotionally.  Just like every other human being.

Am I going to beat myself up because this scarf has this one tiny 'flaw'? 

No.  Absolutely not.  The world will beat on me quite enough, thankyouverymuch.  I don't need to do it to myself.  Especially over something that most people will not notice, and - even if they do - won't care about.

Mastering a craft does not mean that you no longer make mistakes.  It does not mean that you are 'perfect'.  What it means is that you have a basic understanding of the craft.  You know how your tools work, and which ones are appropriate in the circumstances.  It means you understand the craft well beyond a superficial level.  And that you understand that there will be no end to the number of layers you can peel off and still learn something new.

Currently reading The Shoe Boy; a trapline memoir by Duncan McCue  (rant coming)

I have lived in Canada all my life.  But I'm white.  My experience does not reflect the experience of recent immigrants, or - especially - the people who were here before the Europeans came.

If you are white, please take the time to understand life from the point of view of others.  White is not the 'default' of most of the world.  It's time white folk understood that.

For Canadians, take the time to watch some of the programs on the APTN network.  Start with 1491; North America before Columbus.  Watch Wild Archeology.  Go to the NFB website and watch some of the documentaries there on the aboriginal point of view and/or experience.  If you are from central BC (or anywhere, really), read books like Stoney Creek Woman by Bridget Moran.  Or The Right to be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier. 

And let us all try to do better for each other, be better for each other.  We are all on this planet together and together we sink or swim.  Perhaps literally, given global climate change...