Tapestry

By Deirdre Gordon, Vice President of Philanthropic Engagement at Triangle Community Foundation

Someone once asked me why I value community so highly. Immediately the image of a tapestry popped to mind. You might wonder, why a tapestry? 

Imagine a vividly colored, intricately crafted work of art with interwoven threads designed into a strong, purposeful whole. Varied, bright, and vibrant threads forming an intricate textured design.  

A thriving community is just like a tapestry. The individual threads in our community are the people of different backgrounds, talents, goals and perspectives. Together, people form a resilient and beautiful community. Each individual – just like the threads of the tapestry – is essential to the integrity of the masterpiece. 

That tapestry image came immediately to mind as I was immersed in the recent Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations presented by the Chinese American Friendship Association. The vibrant colors and movement of the Lion Dance, the graceful fluidity of the classical dancers, and the rhythmic percussion of the Chinese drummers certainly evoked the image of tapestry with color and movement, though it was actually the energy, the welcoming faces, the animated conversations, the multiple languages flowing, the cross-generational performances, and the coming together of a community in joyful, exhilarating celebration that evoked the tapestry image for me. 

These words of wisdom from Maya Angelou that I read long ago might just have something to do with my connection between community and tapestry: "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."  

My wish for the Triangle region is that we continue to weave together the precious threads of our lives understanding how together, we make more possible in this beautiful tapestry of a community.