I have a Persian rug in my living room, the kind that takes two people two years to make.  I know that because on trips to Turkey we have visited carpet shops and seen the operation and a demonstration of how they are made.  It is tedious work for sure.  

When I look at my carpet now I see the little flaws in the pattern, the wiggles in the straight lines that tell me the story behind the carpet.  Of course I don’t really know the story but I can guess.  I think that there were days when the weavers were angry or anxious.  On those days the threads are woven tighter together.  Other days might have been more relaxed.  Days when things were going smoothly the tension on the threads was perfect too.  Some days attention was else where and a tiny piece of the pattern was missed.

The overall picture is perfect, whole, complete but on closer examination the carpet reveals human struggle and vulnerability.  That’s why I like it.  It reminds me that people are like that too.  On the outside they look good and they might be smiling but if you look closely you see the flaws in the pattern that make them unique and special. Those flaws are what gives them their signature, what distinquishes them from others.

I love the flaws in my carpet and I also love to see the human side of people when they also reveal a flaw or two, a variation from the perfect pattern or the perfect life.  Flawlessness is overrated. Change it up a bit.  See if anyone notices.  There is something liberating about the vulnerability it takes to show others where we might not be perfect.  We all have flaws, good days and bad days, days when our attention is elsewhere AND THAT’s OKAY.

I would like to thank my carpet weavers for sharing their life with me, for creating this carpet and telling me their story as they did. 

 It makes my carpet very special.