Our Aspiration
It is our VISION is to live in a world where interdependence is understood as the foundation of our human experience, and mutual flourishing is embraced as the guiding practice of our lives.
And it is our MISSION is to reweave ourselves back into the fabric of this world through craft-based practice, exploration, and research.
Equanimity | Creativity | Joy
About Us
A journey to reclaim wholeness
The distance between the more beautiful world our heart tells us is possible, and the reality of our everyday modern experience can leave us feeling confused, empty, or full of grief. But if we are open to it, there are ways to reduce the gap and bring us into greater alignment with the life we are meant to live.
The Interwoven Institute was born out of a deep desire to make the experience of living life everyday magical again.
By (re)engaging with our innate creativity, (re)connecting to the land on which we live, and (re)experiencing the present moment as the fully joyful expression of life that it truly is - we believe we can start to (re)awaken health, wholeness, and fierce joy for this one sacred life we live.
Making
What do we mean by the word “making”? We mean the act or process of forming, constructing, or producing something with our hands. The term encompasses a wide variety of craft and artisanal practices including knitting, weaving, spinning, sewing, sculpting, carving, and more. For us, craft and making are deeply tied to the physical act of engaging with natural materials. The resulting objects are inherently imbued with the energy of connection between our bodies, our spirit, and our physical world.
Making as Sacred Resistance
In our Western consumer culture, we have been taught that gaining wealth for the ability to accumulate goods is the definition of success. The more we possess, the richer we are. But this has resulted in an impoverishment of our capacity to see and experience true wealth as the depth of our connection to ourselves, each other, and the earth. And because of this, we have left behind the skills of making that used to be a fundamental expression of our innate understanding of interdependence.
Making was never solely a hobby, it was a critical skill essential to our survival; and linked to our spiritual selves. We made objects as a part of moving through the world; for utility, for expression, for art, for reverence, for understanding, for ourselves, each other, and our communities. We understood the natural pathway from seed or ewe to fiber, fleece and cloth, because we were intimately and inextricably bound up with the story and cultivation of material, of process, of product, and of use. There was an inherent quality of craftsmanship that defined our lives, and we apprenticed ourselves to its cultivation.
More has been lost in this process of forgetting than we realize. More is at stake now than we know. Our internal voice that whispers of a different way of living on this planet is a compass guiding us. To practice making is a sacred act of resistance to what we are told is an inevitable trajectory of separation, dissolution, and loss.
There is a way to redesign our lives, and crafting a new story is truly within our hands.
