Wednesday 2 April 2008

Embroidery can lead to World Peace

Here’s a thought, it may be a soft one but it’s one I’d like to share with you.

I don’t think that there is an easy path to peace in this world but I do think that we have to keep looking for it. I also think that women may be the ones who will bring about that peace eventually.

Modern technology is enabling us, and women in particular, to make contact with people in a way that was not possible in the past. Even in communities where women may not have come in contact with people outside their village, the Internet makes it possible for them to ‘meet’ people from as many different countries and cultures as there are in this world.

Through forums and blogs, whole new communities are forming. Initially, it is our shared passion for a single ‘thing’ (in this case embroidery) that draws us into the community but gradually we start to form friendships and learn more about the other members of that community.

Across this planet there are millions of women who embroider. There are so many different forms and techniques but as we learn more about the different techniques we realise that basically they are the same. The same stitches crop up again and again under different names. When I started to learn Japanese embroidery, I was amazed that I already 'knew' many of the stitches and some of techniques I am learning I have seen used in many other forms of embroidery. All embroidery is essentially the same.

As I have got to know some people in different parts of the world, I have come to realise that the same is true of us. The details of our lives may be very different but essentially all people are the same. We have the same basic needs and the same things are most important to us.

As more women from around the world enter this community and we get to know more about each other, we are learning that we have more in common than not and that the differences between us are mere details.

For the most part it is women who nurture the children of this world. If women teach their children that people from around the world are just like them and not to be feared or hated, maybe we can look forward to a day when we can all live peaceably together.

Embroidery can lead to world peace.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading this. I can't believe how much reading blogs has opened my eyes to how others live- more than books and tv ever could. It is learning about the lives of real people (not in a stupid reality tv sort of way) but in a day to day 'real life' way,...I like to think of us embroidering our way to peace

Maya Sara Matthew said...

Very profound. I know how blogging has opened up my world and re-enforces the idea you put forward in your post of everybody's hopes,wants, desires and fears basically being the same.More power to the fact that women can bring about the change required for peace and harmony.

Sita said...

Hi,I came to your blog from your comments on Deepa's.As I was reading your blog ,the one thought that struck me was "People across cultures think alike",because I feel the same way about Embroidery and Peace.I believe that doing embroidery calms the mind and creates a sense of peace in us thereby creating peace around us and in the world at large.