…hope more, breathe more, love more…

Swedish Proverb Decorative Plate made by Cory-Lynn Styles

I am so grateful for clay.

We live with all of those terrible feelings of such uncertainty right now, and we don’t know for how much longer (days, months, years????). I was reading in a recent Walrus issue about how our brains are doing during this pandemic – how our brains don’t cope very well with any sort of long-term threat or uncertainty. We are programmed to fight, flee or freeze, from an evolutionary point of view. We are good at mobilizing in the short term to try to “fix” or make better life for those in acute crisis. In this circumstance, however, our brains are so confused by this weird holding pattern and we aren’t always sure how to assess this “invisible” threat.

I created this decorative plate with my sailing-crazy kids in mind. I want them all to have their own “copy” of this Swedish wisdom that we have prominently displayed in our home and which we refer to often. It reminds me to be balanced in my living, to LIVE the philosophy of Lagom.

“Lagom” intersects the art and craft of clay so seamlessly. Loosely translated to “just right” (plus a reverence for nature, a focus on making beautiful and useful things with our hands and to come together and look out for each other as a community – Lagom really is a whole philosophy, a way of living), the processes of life and clay require a whole lot of patience, breath, and just the right amount of effort, time, love and care. Worries and fears only take away our already precarious sense of peace. So may as well hope for the best.

…hope more… breathe more… love more…

Overall, we will just feel better, feel more Lagom, feel closer to “just right”.

2 thoughts on “…hope more, breathe more, love more…

  1. Your work is so very beautiful. I love learning about Lagom. Although Canadian my hubbies family was Swedish. I have always tried to incorporate their heritage in my kids life and lagom began to “grow” and develop. 😊

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