KNOTS.
I like knots. I talked about the messy ones yesterday that arise from tangling.
There are other knots that we intentionally tie that bind. I want to talk about those ones today.
About a month ago, my son (#5) learned how to tie knots from a friend’s husband. He learned how which is knot is appropriate for what you want to do. There were knots to secure animals, zip lines, a hammock, and a tent. There was one knot that was “the best knot” according to #5.
The next day, my son was excited to show me all the knots he had learned to make. He made a tent. He tied the dogs up. He wanted to teach me how to do them. I told him to try to draw all the steps on the chalkboard wall. He was able to draw the “under’s” and “over’s” and “through’s.” And the last one was of the completed knot.
(For the life of me, I can’t get these pics right side up.)
As he was drawing, I began to appreciate the beauty of knots. The ones we choose to tie because we need to something to hold fast or we need to connect two pieces together so nothing dangles or slips off.
I am the family “knot undoer.” Because of my long nails, I can undo knots easily. I can see where I have to work backwards to loosen the threads. There is a subtle satisfaction in finally untying a knot.
We make knots that temporarily keep things together like when we tie our shoelaces or a ribbon on a package. And other knots are meant to last, the tiny little knots on friendship bracelet that can never be taken off or the knots made at the end of a tapestry to prevent unraveling.
Sometimes we confuse the temporary and permanent knots. Sometimes we can use that “best knot” to tether what shouldn’t be held tightly. Sometimes we make a loose bow and end up losing something of value that we can’t get back.
TODAY’S PROMPT:
- Draw a knot.
- List all the knots you have tied in your life – ties that bind permanently and those that are temporary.
- What if you untied them all? What really would unravel?
- Copy this quote:
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and fruitage is the world.”
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