The Slow Lane

Well, I had all good intentions of having a series of prayer flags woven and delivered back out to the message senders by this time. However, my vision for a creating a project with integrity and lasting effect has put me on a slower path. Right now I am trying to secure documentation for the reading of the messages that I have received thus far. This reading will take place in a public place, most likley Market Sq. Portsmouth, NH sometime in the early summer.

Please keep sending me messages. I will read each one aloud before it is cut and woven into the prayer flags.

Here is a photo of an Iraqi writing her message.

With love and gratitude for all your support, Sarah
Send the positive messages to :
P.P. Box 452, York, ME 03909

Messages from Iraq

The messages from my friend Peter Buotte, stationed in Iraq arrived yesterday. Peter works with Iraqis in a linguistics class.

To help focus the writing, Peter asked them to write their hope for the future. The photo I have included here is of one of the Iraqis holding his message of hope for the future which reads: "To live happily".

Sarah
May 18.

Spring Blooms

It's been a full week, working in an Oncology waiting room, at an Assisted Living Facility and teaching 3rd graders. All good work but kept me out the door and on the road from Waterbury CT to Concord NH.

I am scanning my calendar and looking at a date in early June to read the messages in Market Square, Portsmouth NH. I just have a couple things to confirm before I set the date. Keep posted!

Here is a photo of some sweet and thoughtful messages from the collection I have received. Heartfelt gratitude to all those who have made the effort to contribute.

Namaste, Sarah

Monday's Message

Glorious New England Spring! This time of year always feels like a health tonic to revive my winter weary spirit.

Hear are a few messages that I received from a calligraphy class. Aren't they lovely? ...these will be hard to cut up!

Before I cut all these messages up, my goal is to transcribe them, to have them read aloud in a public location and to video this event. In other words, to document as fully as possible the messages before they are cut up and woven into prayer flags. I will be posting an invitation to these events soon! My current teaching schedule is so full, I cannot seem to think beyond next week! Stay tuned!

Saturday ~ Always a sweet relief from the hustle of the week. Today I want to share another image of the messages I have been receiving from all over the world. This is the one I used to make the postcard I had printed to promote the project. It is of a pile of messages written on both paper and ribbons. You can sort of read some of them.

I have decided that before all these messages are cut up in preparation for weaving the prayer flags that all these messages need to be read aloud. My plan is to take a collections of messages to a public spot, like Market Square Portsmouth, and start to read them. My intent is to release the sound of the positive messages to the universe prior to weaving them into the flags. I will post an invitation to join me with a date and location . Blessings to all. Sarah

Woven Voices from Iraq

As promised I am including an image from my friend Peter Buotte in Iraq. He got his linguistics class to write messages about the future...and he used his pillow case to make the strips of fabric for the folks to write their messages on...now that is an act of true commitment to the project!

For those who are in the dark about this project...here is my original email invitation:

“Woven Voices: Message from the Heart”

Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues~

As the year turns from 2007 to 2008, I am charged with abundant energy and vision for a new venture. I am writing to invite you to participate in a community art project that has grown from my work as a community artist/healer.

“Woven Voices: Messages from the heart” is inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, Shinto paper prayers, and many other cultures around the world that use cloth and paper in their spiritual practices.

My vision is to collect positive messages of hope, dreams, wishes or prayers from people all over the world. These messages will be written in pieces of paper, which I will cut into strips and weave into brightly colored prayer flags.

My dream is that messages from Iraq will be woven with dreams from Iowa, and hopes from Arizona will be woven with prayers from Pakistan. The more messages I receive, the more flags I can create. As a series of flags is completed, I will send them out. These colorful woven flags will be hung outside in a variety of communities to allow the messages to be released to the universe. As the seasons go by, the flags will fade, and unravel to release the messages of hope, peace and renewal.

The details: Please send me positive messages of hope and renewal, dreams, wishes or prayers written on paper of any size, color and weight. I will cut or fold the paper as necessary to weave it. I prefer that the messages are hand written. If you need to, you can email me the messages. If you wish to pre-cut the paper into strips that is fine. Cloth or ribbon strips are fine too. Once the messages are woven into the flags, they will become unreadable. In return I will send you a flag or series of flags to hang in your yard, your town, your school, your city.

The delivery: By snail-mail: P.O. Box 452, York ME 03909

By email: sarah@sarahhaskell.com

I hope you will join this community art project. I will begin to post photos as the project grows. Thank you for your support and efforts. Let the positive messages spread! Share this email with your friends and colleagues. I hope to have many contributors to this project.

With peace, Sarah

The first post. May 8.2008

Today I am posting the first tidbit about my project "Woven Voices ~Messages from the heart" This will be a minimal post, because I am away from all my photos and other notes. I'm working in Boston for a few days, and soaking up sunshine when I can in the Boston Public Gardens .

A couple of days ago my friend Peter who is a captain in the Army reserves and serving in Iraq emailed me some photos for the project. He took his pillow case and tore it into strips. The he had his linguistics class (all Iraq citizens) write positive messages of hope and renewal on these strips. The writing is in their native text. So when he emailed me the photos of each person holding up their strip, he included a translation of each one. I am humbled by this offering. Photos will be posted soon.
Peter will send me the actual strips soon to be included with the other messages from around the globe.
Please read more about this project on my website: www.sarahhaskell.com/wovenvoices