What we call disappointment may be just the first stage of our emancipation into the next greater pattern of existence.
~ David Whyte, Consolations
At Shree, we teach Anusara Yoga, a style of hatha yoga that is based on the Tantric philosophy of inclusivity. The word tantra is translated in many ways, but the one I appreciate most is “to loom, warp, weave”. This definition imagines the universe as a giant tapestry woven on a universal loom. It acknowledges that we are all woven together, each a colorful and essential thread in the overarching pattern.
One reason I like this definition is that my Mom was a weaver and we had a huge loom set up in our NYC apartment as I was growing up. As a little girl, I would sometimes sit under the loom and watch her shuttle going back and forth trying to see, but often failing to see, the pattern she was weaving. Her tapestries were creative expressions of herself and I marveled at how the color or width of each thread seemed random until woven into the whole. This is one of her pieces 5’6” wide in black and white. She would card and spin the individual threads to the width and length desired always keeping in mind how they would meld into the whole.
When we only see only our own individual thread our perspective narrows. When we are able to step out that narrowness, we perceive the myriad interconnections, the warp and the weft, the snags and the beauty. I begin to see how we are each completely different, unique and related. Sometimes it takes a disappointment to help move us into the bigger picture and the next greater pattern of existence.
As I think over the disappointments of my life, though they will always be painful, I also see how they have been an essential part of making me who I am today. As I recall all the people who have intersected with my life, in good ways and difficult ways, I see the strands weaving into a pattern of the tapestry that is me. Our parts make us whole. When we can see the disappointments and the joys as integral parts of the whole, perhaps we can experience some freedom that comes with perspective.
