Wouldn’t it be great if you could catch peace? Like if you have a friend or family member you know could do with a dose of peace, and you could just throw them a bunch of peace and they could catch it – really easily like a ball. How good would that be?

These feathers and sticks represent peace to me. They have been collected over many, many walks, during which I always feel at peace. I walk in a lovely garden where there are few people (especially during the colder months), lot’s of beautiful flowers and trees and plenty of bird life. It’s peaceful and nourishing to my spirit just being there. I yearn to be there often but usually manage a weekly or fortnightly walk there. If it wasn’t for the day job I think I’d go nearly everyday.

Peace Catcher.
Cotton, feathers, twigs, leather, turquoise, silver – Crochet.

This is my efforts at catching peace. Gathering some of the elements that naturally bring me peace and putting them together in a way that feels very natural and organic to me. There’s feathers from Lyrebirds, Kookaburra’s and Owls in my Peace Catcher and I’ve heard all their pretty songs many times during my walks. The Owls and their gentle slightly eery hoot, the Kookaburra’s having a good old laugh and the Lyrebirds doing everything bar just about breaking into an Elvis song! Did you know they mimic other birds? I’ve heard the Lyrebird doing everything from a Currawong to a Magpie to a Kookaburra. The Kookaburra is a bit hard for them though, and if you listen closely you can tell it’s not really a Kookaburra. It’s a mighty fine effort though.

The twigs were collected from around some of my favourite trees in the garden. They could be blow ins from other trees, but they’ve been gathered from around the base of the majestic Tulip Tree and the pretty Gingko Tree just to name a couple. Wandering around picking up sticks is very childlike and somehow very peaceful at the same time. Just bringing your focus in to such a simple little task, slows you down and takes you right into the heart of the moment. Thinking of nothing else but the thickness, texture and shape of the twig. In the zone.

The heart of the Peace Catcher is a crocheted ‘Forget-me-not’ … It’s a special delicate little flower to me. Not only do they pop up randomly around the garden I walk in, but I absolutely adore the colour of forget-me-nots. They were also one of my dear sweet Grandma’s favourite flowers. Sadly she’s not with us anymore, but I feel very blessed to have had such a sweet kind lady for my Grandma. In fact I feel very fortunate to have lived a good part of life with both my mum’s and my dad’s parents in my life and my kids lives. Beautiful Grandparents who definitely played a roll in my life and gave me a great sense of a strong family connection and love. Grandparents are pretty darn awesome… and I’m pretty darn lucky to have had such lovely ones.

The idea of making a Peace Catcher formed well over a year ago. I’ve had the sticks, the feathers and the crocheted forget-me-not in a box ready to make all that time. It’s taken me this long to finally get around to it. Collecting the pieces, putting them together, and finding a spot to hang it in my craft room was a peaceful process. I definitely caught a bit peace making this. It has a peaceful vibe about, and I’m hoping the peaceful energy it contains permeates its surrounds. I do feel peaceful just looking at it so I guess it works… for me. I hope you get a sense of peace looking at it too.

Throwing a bunch of peace your way and wishing you peaceful moments, doing simple things, being in the zone and living in the moment.