Patchwork

The way I see, each of us is a patchwork.

We are the combination of the worlds of those around us, on individual and collective levels.

We are members of societies, groups, communities, families. And those shape us.

We are what we were born with, but also what we interact with.

We are our surroundings - whether physical and immediate, or imaginary and desirable.

We are the patches that we’re given.

And those that we claim.

Sometimes, it might feel that we got the wrong patch.

It’s not what we wanted. It doesn’t quite fit in.

That’s because we can’t yet see the pattern that it will help create.

But if we trust in ourselves, and keep going, we will create a beautiful product.

Of that I’m sure.

In life, we never know what we’ll be given.

And we don’t always have control over what’s available to claim, either.

But we do have a choice to keep sewing. Moving. Living. Collecting moments and putting them together. Making sense of them to create our own, unique pattern.

A pattern made from patches.

From communities we belong to.

From beliefs and values we have.

From the person we aspire to be.

From serendipitous encounters.

From overheard conversations.

From stories far-flung or close-by.

From friends, families, lovers.

From joy & suffering.

From loss, and from pain.

From beauty.

From peace.

From existing.

A pattern that is the world around us, by us.

A pattern that is ours to make, and take.

Photo by Ian Dooley on Unsplash.