patterns vol. 2
Dec 2024
“It is precisely by falling off the bike many times that you eventually learn what the balance feels like. The skater pushing both right and left eventually goes where he or she wants to go. People who have never allowed themselves to fall are actually off balance, while not realizing it at all. That is why they are so hard to live with. Please think about that for a while.” (Rohr, Richard, Falling Upward p.28)
It is ice skating season in the northern hemisphere, but lately I’ve been spending more time trying to encourage my son to ride his bike.
We sneak away to deserted parks in the hopes of finding a place he feels safe enough to try. I resonate with his fear of falling. Yet, I have learned it is the only way through. I need to let him fall if he is one day feel the freedom of the wind on his face as he soars down a tree-lined street on his own.
In my experience, falling rarely happens when we want it. Business cycles, election plans, family expectations be damned. It’s humbling, and these falls leave marks.
Marks, scars, that we then carry with us. And, if we don’t try to cover them up, it is the memory of these falls that help guide us and keep us faithful when we descend again.
Since reading Father Richard Rohr’s book, I’ve come to hope that patternmaking.org will be a place to learn how to fall — almost more than it will be a place for answers.
I like to imagine that if we find community in the falling, we might be more compassionate, more courageous. I imagine we might one day realize that we have skated our way into a future where we feel freer and fuller together.
It is in this spirit that we welcome you to 2025. In this edition, we invite you not only to slow down to reflect, but also to scheme. How will you make use of this bright and shiny, new year? We are calling you into explore this question with the bravery of a new bike rider.
Please enjoy.
Warmly,
Jessica
— along the often courageous Dee Thomas-Butler, Johnny Miller, Kayla Christopherson, Efraín Gutiérrez, Jen Fei, Gabi Fitz, Denise Ho, Paula Hodges, Kevin Hong, Anne Gienapp, Skye Lucking, Dana Kaminstein, Laura Lehman, Annie Norbeck, Scott Perret, Kelci Price, Nadya Shmavonian, and Sandra Wegmann.
Digging Up Shards
WRITING. Jessica Kiessel
Must something break for me to realize that I’ve grown hollow?
Orientation Point
PAINTING & WRITING. Annie Norbeck
How do we return to level when we’ve been knocked unsteady?
What if I’m not broken?
WRITING. Denise Ho
What if we just assumed we are the way we were meant to be?
Even the Darkness
WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY. Jessica Kiessel
There is light that comes from allowing ourselves to own, and even dare to love, our darkness.
Laugh Out Loud
WRITING. Jessica Kiessel
Relearning to feel joy and light.
Poetry, where macho becomes human
POETRY. Efraín Gutiérrez
Might poetry, like breath, breathe in new possibility to masculinity?
Six Hours and Thirteen Minutes
WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY. Gabi Fitz
Our world is shaped by powerful rhythms, yet so often they go unseen. Gabi finds a rhythm so powerful, she has to listen.
Loving Pablo: Following Threads of Creative Influence
ART & WRITING. Nadya Shmavonian
The threads of creative influence and voice weave across generations. How might we nurture our voice with care?
Love her. Love her. Love her.
WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY. Kayla Christopherson
New motherhood is its own disorientation. Can we trust the rhythms of love to hold us when we find ourselves unsteady?
Advice From a Failing Artist: A C-Section for Taylor Swift
WRITING & ART. Skye Lucking
Creativity requires a leap of faith, and sometimes we just need to believe.
Am I a Baker or a Cook?
WRITING. Paula Hodges
How do we knead our heritage and our intuition in with what is new?
Finding Light in the Darkroom
PHOTOGRAPHY. Jen Fei
Look at the world through Jen’s lens. What do you see?
Time, Labor, and Handmade Gifts
ART & WRITING. Laura Lehman
If we believe the artifacts we create are even more valuable than our time, what might we need to accept in order to make time for them?
Reclaiming Space
WRITING & FIBER ARTS. Kelci Price
Kelci gives us a loving nudge to make room for focus.
Water is a Tricky Lover
WRITING. Scott Perret
Nature reminds us that relationships ask us to soften into what we have longed to feel.
Again, Two Trees
CERAMICS & WRITING. Jessica Kiessel
How might form help us to remember how to be in relationship?
Bandit Runner
WRITING. Sandra Wegmann
Could it be that without discomfort there would be no growth, no pleasure?
Knees on Cold Tile, like it’s 1999
CERAMICS & WRITING. Jessica Kiessel
Who ever said that manifesting what you most desire was going to be easy?
Pebbles in Our Pockets
WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY. Jessica Kiessel
Doesn’t it seem we make the same mistakes over and over? How might we share what we’ve learned in ways that embraces the complexity of the world we live in?
Thank you for joining us. Let’s stay in engaged.
ONE
If you haven’t already, please subscribe. To intentionally slow things down, we will only send a few emails a year.
TWO
We believe that authentic reflection is essential in these in-between times. Know other pattern makers looking for community? Spread the word!
THREE
We may only produce a twice a year, but we post more regularly. Check back in if you miss us. Even better, reach out if you want to get involved!
