THE FORGOTTEN CRAFT - Woman Discovers The Ancient Craft Of Basketry Weaving

I wanted to be a nun. Then it seemed the perfect thing to be. I grew out of that. I didn't want to be anything. There was nothing that interested me. And I was starting to think, maybe I should try and make more of an effort to find out what I'm going to do when I grow up. And that's when it happened. I was 39 when I first found basketry. The light bulb just went on. Everything just seemed to make sense. There was not a single second of doubt, which was exhilarating. It was liberating. It was marvellous. I mean, it was just joyful. There was no room for any negativity. I'd never been as sure as anything in my life. There is a magic in rekindling a forgotten craft. Because it is, it's magical. Making the basket without glue, without nails, only with my hands. You've taken a piece of nature and turned it into this functional thing, which makes it inherently beautiful. When I walk among the willow and it's just flowing all round about me and it dances in the wind, you build up this intimate relationship with the material. I can see the type of basket that I could make from that rod. So the hues of the colour, the way the sun has been drying on it, or if we've had more rain, everything in the environment around it affects it. There is one thing I know about life and that is nothing stays the same. When I lost my mother and my sister, it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. There was nothing I could do. They were gone. It's in your head. You can't think straight. You can't focus. Everything else falls off the edge. The business, the house, the meals, everything. Whether it's raining, whether it's sun shining, I'm just in the garden. And that takes me to a place where I can start to cope. Being in the garden puts it in a place until you're ready to deal with it. All I have to do is just bend down and pick a dead head off a flower and I'm away. Watching the grass grow, I know that sounds, but I'm telling you, it's amazing. If you go back every few days to the one clump of grass, the difference you'll see, you see all the different life forms that are in it and using it. When you focus on something like that, everything else leaves you because it's a wonder, you know, you're in awe of it. Everything is balanced and you just feel part of it. It's my healing place, yes. And now I'm not frightened to say that. I would have hesitated in saying that to people in case they looked weirdly at me or something ridiculous like that. Not now. I want to tell people it's my healing place in the hope that they might find a garden that's their healing place or at least start looking for a healing place. Acknowledging that you can have one in your life. Younger people these days, and I hate myself for saying that. Never thought I'd say that. Seem to be more lost than I was. Actually, they seem to be far more lost. Don't get lost in the mire of worrying about things that you have no control over. It's just a waste of your life and your time. Don't be afraid. The only thing you need to be afraid of is not listening to yourself, not doing what you feel is right. If you're feeling it inside you, it's not coming from anywhere else but inside you. And if you can hear that in the first place, then it makes no sense to ignore it. Listen to yourself, because there is absolutely nobody out there in the entire planet that is going to do it for you. And that's the truth. And it's the only way you can take responsibility for what you do, is to listen to you. It takes a lot of courage, but it is the only way that you can affect any kind of change that you want around you. And that's just the start. The whole thing's a journey. I'm much more at peace with who I think I am now. More importantly, I know what I have to do. Be the best person I can be. And spread the love. Be kind. To all of you who have contributed, for those of you who've shared our films, for those of you who have written out comments, this journey is just beginning. And we've put a Patreon link below our films. So if you would like to continue to support us, we'd love for you to donate below. Thanks so much.