Big Little Things: Summer 2019

Happy Summer!
This was my view a few
days ago while hanging the laundry.
It takes my breath away every
time I go onto ​our
terrace.

The Laundry View. Photograph by ERSwett 2019

I was
in a great mood
because I had set the day aside
to work on a major embroidery project
I'm exploring this
summer. 

Today's Project. Photograph by ERSwett 2019

But life
kept getting in the way.
You  know how it can be - managing the
compost, changing toilet-paper rolls, drinking water
to stay hydrated on a hot day, cleaning up
after the dog made ​a mistake...
and, of course, doing
the ​laundry.

I think I was
able to finish about
half a leaf between each
interruption. By the time I went
out to hang the laundry, I was feeling 
really frustrated by how slow my progress was.
I'd been feeling bad about other things too. Like the fact
I hadn't written a blog post for more than a 
month and that I hadn't finished
the next playbook
in my series.  ​

Re-imagining old clothes

But while standing
on the terrace and hearing the
baby birds and seeing a monarch butterfly
head toward the volunteer milkweed in the orchard
we planted, I remembered that not long ago,
none of this was here: no terrace, solar
panels, shrubs or perennials, and
no monarchs or baby birds
​learning to sing.

A Blank Canvas - Our Yard, 2004

I also remembered
how exciting it was to see
these peonies and iris bloom together
after we had transplanted them that first year
with the terrace garden - that
was 8 years ago.

We're Here! Peonies & Iris, 2012

Some days
I have to remind myself
that over time, lots of little actions
accumulate and become something larger
than themselves. A single stone becomes a terrace. A
single flower becomes a garden. A single
stitch in a small leaf becomes a
re-imagined
dress.

Coming to Life. Photograph by ERSwett 2019

Sometimes I
​just have to consciously
remember how things really work,
which is why when I dumped the compost and
took yet another photograph, I remembered the power of
showing up and of big little things. 10 pounds of compost a week
adds up to 500 pounds a year -- a ton over four years. 
That's a lot of food diverted from the landfill.
It's also a lot of photographs
celebrating its
​beauty.

Grocery List Photograph by ERSwett (At AVA this summer)

So this week
I'm celebrating Big Little
Things. Like the fact that after creating
thousands of Compost Compositions, I finally have
two in a juried show this summer and I'll have a few dozen in
a solo show this fall - - All at AVA Gallery in Lebanon,
NH. Friends told me that if I kept showing
​up for my work and for myself,
cool things  would happen.
They were right.
They are.

Corn Husks & Red Onion Photograph By ERSwett (In solo show this fall)

Who knew 
the simple climate
action of composting would
lead me to become a photographer?
Who knew that photographing that compost
could lead to learning about embroidery and the craft
of remaking old clothes? Who knew that the
act of remaking old things would
inspire new ways of thinking
and new ways
of being?

Hemming the dress. Photograph by ERSwett

How are
you celebrating
the Big Little Things
in your day or your week? 
Remember: When you show up for
yourself and those you love, 
cool things can
​happen.

---

Messages for the Future @ AVA Gallery
AVA's 2019 Summer Juried Exhibition
July 12 - August 21

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Monday Morning's Activities (not listed above):
Writing & mailing post cards to daughter and mother-in-law;
Emptying the dehumidifier in my basement studio;
Packing up some college supplies for a friend, who happens to be passing through, to take down to DC so that we won't have so much to manage in August when our son goes to college there;
Managing a broken nail that I got while packing those supplies;
Receiving a packet of pachysandra from a neighbor with whom I had just spoken during my morning walk - - She mentioned she had more pachysandra than she needed; I mentioned I could use some. I thought the plan was for me to go over and harvest it. What a gift!
And it all happened between 9am and 1pm.