The Life Tapestry: Weaving, Knots, and Tangles

"We are the weavers,
We are the woven ones,
We are the dreamers,
We are the dream".





It has been said that our lives are a tapestry that we weave, choosing color, fabric, texture, style, and design. Each of us is entirely unique and bring gifts and talents to the world which, if the tapestry is woven cleanly, shine through as we become who we truly are. We express the beauty of our lives through the weave.

What has become curious to me is how we become tangled along the way. Certainly there are times when the weaving of this metaphoric tapestry is smooth and even with each strand delicately and precisely put into place in the grand design. We feel confident and centered, open to a little adventure here and there, enjoying our lives with all the "ups and downs",' knowing that the bumps will ease soon enough. But sometimes we also begin to notice little tangles in the threads which can over time, if not undone, become knots which then seem to stop up in our progress. We see and feel these knots in different ways, often times in our bodies, appearing as headaches and stomach aches, intestinal upsets. Our thinking becomes distorted and filled with worries, both real and imagined. Life ceases to be easy and graceful as it becomes challenging, difficult, and contracted. We no longer are in the flow; we feel stuck, lethargic, uninspired. Or we may feel anxious and worried, knowing something isn't quite right but having no idea what that might be.

These knots then. What are they? My belief, based on personal experience as well as sharing many stories with friends and clients, is that they are unresolved emotions.

If, during an experience, we feel intensely and yet we do not express those feelings then they are pushed down into our subconscious where they lay dormant. But just as the sleeping tiger of addiction is quiet when the addict is not actively using a substance, these feelings continue to exist whether or not we are aware of them.  A momentary feeling which is not a "10" on the Richter scale of emotions can still conjoin with other similar emotions to create a den of entanglements, much like the Medusas head of swirling snakes. Much of the time we have little or no awareness of this storehouse, that is until an external event takes place and our Tiger or Medusa rises up into ferociously into consciousness, bringing into the light those emotions which have been kept hidden and out of sight. A sudden headache, fatigue, depression, anxiety looms.....We begin to feel tense. We start to feel the knots. Our tapestry continues to be woven knots and all.

As we notice our tangles, we have taken the first step toward untangling them. We allow ourselves to safely feel them and as we do, they can be released. We need not attack them with intensity and instead can begin to see when they come up, when we feel them, when it is safe now to feel these emotions. We can choose to find ways to express our understanding of our tangles through writing, music, dance and movement, art, and storytelling using metaphor and symbology. These tangles and knots lose their power over us. There is energy tied up in the knots which then becomes available to us. Herein lies the GOLD.

It is possible to choose to weave your tapestry without tangles. It is possible to choose to be free.

Breathe. Allow. Release. Untangle.


Upcoming blogs will include the role of our thoughts in the creation of suffering and their relationship to our "tangles".

Quote From Spiraling into the Center by Lorna Koehler