Repeating, and again
Repeating is deeply within us, a dynamic, cyclical, ever-present repeating.
The other day I was in my car grooving to what was coming up on my Spotify app.
First it was Patience by Low Roar. Hearing the guitar in the opening, it drew me into its melodic waves, the strings repeating almost the same, with simple changes, then returning, and repeating. The strumming quickened and I was with it, this narrow deep wave of music reverberating in my own body. And then again. Another melodic wave, until the music faded away and I was suspended.
Next Tonto Rides the Gain by Jon Kennedy started. More edgy, and it lured me into its repetition. I followed the background beats and danced in my seat even as my body was strapped in a seatbelt. At the next red light, my hands played drums and moved through hovering notes. It too then faded, and I was alive.
It’s the repetition, the beat, that syncs with my own rhythm. My whole body is repeating all the time – a beating heart, my breathing, ongoing throughout the days, again and again. I wondered if in some way this repeating is deeply within us, a dynamic cyclical ever-present repeating.
Sometimes repeating can be boring, like when it’s a flat, monotonous repetition that irritates. Or it can get stuck in an unhealthy way like repeating negative emotional patterns or situations.
But the kind of repeating I mean is not like that. It's the kind that is exciting, dynamic, and energizing - it cycles through, it keeps us alive and is lively, and invites curiosity over and over again.
This all came to me as I had just spent several days in my studio, stringing and tethering crepe myrtle bark, and the word that kept coming up was repeating.
Then my friend Sush (and supporter, thank you!) wanted to show me the pink blossoms of crepe myrtle trees near her studio on a recent walk. She was so excited about the abundance of fluffy pink flowers in bloom this season and had been posting lots of pictures of them lately.
When we got there and after oohing and aahing the pink blossoms, I saw all the bark that had naturally peeled off and fallen on the ground! She was still looking up, and I was now looking down, picking up a handful to carry back with me to continue working with it in my studio.
After that I kept thinking of other things that repeat. My husband pointed out that much of my artwork has an element of repeating in it! From repeating lines in hand-stitched columns, to repeating natural found objects in healing chimes, to repeating marks on painted leaves and seedpods, and the repeating language in some of my mark-making.
So why should it surprise me that I found myself stringing small fragments of crepe myrtle bark together? Each new bark fragment strung was a breath in tune with my own, each one a beat that needed to be expressed, each one a repeat of the one before and the one after, an iteration and variation, and together forming a rhythm.
There was something in this that kept me going. When one finished, another one began. Repeating, and again. Another iteration.
Then another genre entirely. This time hand-stitching the bark fragments with Lao thread onto strips of Lao fabric.
The ash and coco-colored bark, the light blue indigo thread, and deep indigo strip of fabric created a delicate visual harmony.
Like deep intentional breathing, the soft whisper of my heartbeat, going at my own pace, patient. Repeating, and again.
May you discover the ever-present dynamic repeating in your own life - in your rhythm, in your own beat, and in the cycles of your own life. And again.
✻
LouLou
“Repeating, and again” was originally published as an exclusive post to my Patreon supporters in August 2022. Now it is public to you, too!
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