It isn’t possible to take one part of our self and put it neatly in a box away from the rest of our being. Our whole physical, emotional and spiritual person is the sum of every part of who we are.

Our life is a patchwork collage of pieces that make up who we are.

I could start a list of all the ‘boxes’ that compartmentalize who I am. No doubt the list would be very different from yours as we are all unique and different.

Mine would look something like:

• wife
• mother
• teacher
• writer
• patchwork seamstress
• NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) master practitioner
• friend
• sister
• hypnotherapist

There’s no “and” in the list as it’s far from exhaustive. I could add many, many things to the list with great congruency.

If I sat and thought about it I would definitely re-order the list. Each individual part, while important, has varying value that only I can give it. And at different times in life individual parts become more and less important to us.

What is noteworthy is that none of these things stand alone. My life is truly a patchwork every bit as real as the ones I craft with my hands.

There is beauty in every piece. Vast contrasts in each one. Differences in importance and size of each patch. One tiny part cannot be left out or taken away without affecting the overall design in this quilt of life.

I cannot craft patchwork and not be a wife. Having studied NLP means I carry it, usually unconsciously, on every parenting journey that I take. The fact that I am a writer is impacted (subtly perhaps) by the fact that I am a daughter and sister in a loving family group.

Perhaps it is attitude but I’m a firm believer that it isn’t possible to make an ugly patchwork.

Interesting and unique? Probably. Ugly? Never.

Even the most strange fabric, that has no personal appeal on it’s own, can add just the right touch to an otherwise bland quilt. A splash of drama, challenge or even difficulty can sew the seeds of grace, understanding and acceptance in an otherwise ordinary life.

Even the most difficult lives, or especially the most difficult lives, have the most wonderful qualities sewn through them.

Threads of gold amongst fabrics of texture.

My goal in life is to embrace the parts of me that make up who I am. We can all love the bits that bring us joy, play around with changing the bits that we really don’t like, and (at the end of the day) embrace the tiny bits that bring us grief.

After all, every one of us has our own journey and therefore the choice of what fabrics we put into our quilt. Every piece you or I handle contributes to what makes the quilt of our lives exceptionally beautiful.