16. It's Already Woven

June 25, 2019

After the first week of traveling I woke up from a dream of a woman boldly stating, “It’s already woven”. I told my family and it began as a funny thing that we kept saying in relation to random experiences during the rest of our trip.

As I am working on finishing my capstone research writing and making connections to my literature review, I read in the suggestions to think of my analysis like a tapestry in which I am weaving together information. I am pleasantly surprised at how meaning making and connections are coming forth in unexpected and not so obvious ways. I feel like when we are open to becoming more self-aware, we are more in tuned to everything around us which can also include our dreams.

I couldn’t help but search for meanings online for “woven”. I came across a book titled One Red Thread by Dov Baron. This book is about discovering purpose and leadership. One of the examples was of a handmade rug titled One Red Thread hanging with many beautiful colors. The description of the rug describes “the unique combination of the colored threads that together create the tapestry of our lives. A single Red Thread is intricately woven throughout the rug. This thread may not be apparent, but it is the very essence of what binds the entire piece together. The description challenges you to look for the One Red Thread in your own tapestry.”

This part of my research is all coming together and I still need to bind my journal. I’ve decided that I will use one red thread to complete the binding process to piece my pages together.

Symbol for thoughts weaving together

17. Doors = New Ways of Thinking

June 25, 2019

Since returning home from my trip, I’ve needed some extra time in allowing my thoughts to simmer and focus on reflecting. It definitely feels as though my experiences and thinking were already woven but I needed more time in considering how I would interpret them. I’ve been having a lot of visual imagery in my mind that I am sorting out. I am continuing to form data symbols more naturally as well.

My literature review from different authors now even has their own symbol which are doors. I had planned on taking pictures of doors before my trip but the meaning hadn’t formed until I was reflecting on the ideas and concepts from my readings. There was a back and forth motion of thinking on these concepts while creating art that helped guide my research. Doors represent new opportunities from new ways of thinking.

18. Creating Mindful Exercises

June 25, 2019

In the earlier weeks of my research I did exercises suggested by Lupi & Posavec on drawing my pulse and my breath. While traveling, I started to notice that those in-between thoughts where my anxiety usually was now had songs playing over and over. I decided that it would be fun to write down the lyrics that were stuck in my head as an exercise.

Songs stuck in my head

I also started noticing my focus on billboards as my family played the alphabet game so I wrote down random billboard signs. Because I spent 17 days exploring national parks, I was able to find patterns in these exercises related to nature. I pulled out words associated with nature from the billboards and doodled little symbols for each one.

billboards