Images:
1-3 Island Totem Skidaway, 2025
Sheath core warp, recycled
Mylar balloons and dry cleaning hangers
TOTEM TRANSFORMATION
This week of gratefulness began months ago
when a friend asked for a weaving for their
sanctuary on Skidaway Island,
where their family would gather for Thanksgiving.
Island folk have a certain bond,
a special relationship, especially when it comes to the water.
We all collect Mylar balloons from the beaches of fire island and my
dharma, ever since I was a wee little one, was to protect the water.
Never keeping the water running while brushing my teeth…
So, no surprise when I saw all these battered
mylar balloons washing up on the beach,
I would grab them, primarily to
keep the waters clean of them.
Then my awareness kicked in and I realized I could weave them.
Wire Hangers from the Dry Cleaners had been an obsession as well.
So I collect them, and thanks to many friends near and far, I receive
nice bundles for my weavings.
Transformation of materials has also been an obsession.
A priori knowledge between material transformation
and meditation transformation
is an alchemy that I look at on a daily basis.
There is so much around us that can be reused.
Weaving, like meditation, when firmly rooted
and done consistently, settles the mind.
Happiness emerges when we settle the mind,
first on the gross level,
by doing our 2 x a day practice.
Weaving, on a subtle level — when I see the alchemic qualities of the
materials turn from something on a gross level into something on a
subtle level, after being cut and woven into a piece — brings pure joy.
Also recognizing that the consistent practice
of both meditation and weaving brings about
stability, organizing power, perfect orderliness, infinite creativity.
All aspects of the excavation process that happens in our daily
meditation ritual.
On an aspirational level, I am not only helping our dear planet
and water by cleaning it up,
but also by transforming materials into works of beauty that
can be shared with my friends and family members.
For this I am truly grateful.
11.23.2025 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com