Queen Joker
Victim
Prostitute Gambler
Saboteur
King Guide Servant Judge Child Nancy Tully Vampire
Fort Worth TX
R
estless, Irritable and Discontent is an ode to the Addict archetype which has found fertile ground within my soul. Of all my archetypes, no other is as delineated by lightness and darkness as the Addict. White and black with red danger signals running throughout, Restless, Irritable and Discontent is an indication of how black the dark side can become and how white the light can be. On the dark side lies obsession and compulsion, and on the light side is clarity and grace. Red lines and circles caution but do not necessarily guide. And it is in the middle ground where things can become so gray and muddled; for it is in the middle ground that choices must be made. Is today the day I will opt for the comfort of compulsion where there is only the opportunity to obsess? Or is today the day that I will strive for serenity where there is only the opportunity to live life on life’s terms. It seems that it should be an easy choice. But it isn’t. Addiction – the bane and blessing of my life!
38
Mother
Could I have found a better medium to work out some of the issues that surround addictive behavior? Perhaps, but I think not. I learned many of my skills from my mother and one of my aunts as a child, and many additional skills I have either taught myself and or have been fortunate to have other skilled artisans teach me. But what I couldn’t have known when I began was that there is an inherent self-preservation in these activities. No doubt part of the therapeutic benefit is derived from simply being absorbed by a process. But, for me, at the heart of stitching and making lies a process that allows me to connect to something deeper and bigger than myself. Perhaps it is because the practice of putting pieces of material together to provide protection is as basic to human’s existence as hunting and gathering. Or perhaps it is the meditative nature of drawing a needle in and out of fabric. All I know is that it works – over and over and over again.
