Identity kit

Thinking back to that N. American Indian workshop I remembered that we were also supposed to make ourselves a shield that somehow embodied our being. Whilst all the women around me were taking pieces of material (in lieu of deer skin I suppose) framing it, sticking on feathers, moss, shiney stones, even embroidering motifs, I could think of nothing I wanted to do. In the end I bent some willow into a circle, tied it in place with rushes and left it empty. At the end of the afternoon there was a sharing and I listened whilst the women talked about their shields, for them the expression of their perceived strengths and weakness; their hopes and dreams. I couldn't think of anything to say about my willow circle. I didn't understand it but I was stubbornly satisfied with it. When I got home I hung it on the wall. It was significant and I wanted to brood on it. Then I left Belgium and it was left behind. Some years later I reread one of the Lynne Andrews books about shield-making and wondered if I would do differently if I had the chance to do the workshop again. On the whole I thought not. And I still think not. I might be better at talking about it now. The empty circle has the abililty to receive, to stay open. It keeps the future in potential limited only by the physical outline. I think it's a mistake to put form on ourselves or our dreams.