Inside Out...

You're making your way through a rack of clothes and you come upon a jacket labeled "Reversible".  Even though it's semi-ugly, the word triggers an automatic response - you can't resist taking it off the rack just to check out the inside. More than likely, if it's tacky on the outside, it's a given that the inside won't be much prettier. Perhaps it's the thriftiness in me, or the creativeness, I'm not sure, but I will always look at the inside, even though I have no intention of buying it. To me, "Reversible" usually means "bulky", "unattractive", or "I would NOT wear THAT on the outside!"

Some things are okay with their insides showing.  I spotted a knitted cowl in a yarn shop that I thought was kind of cute.

"It's reversible", the sales person said, like that fact alone was going to make me want to make it. I took a peak at the inside, and sure enough, the inside actually looked the same as the outside. Bonus! So I immediately purchased a nice soft turquoise wool and sure enough, it's going to be lovely...and reversible!

Some things are meant to be reversible...like a quilt.  When experts judge a quilt, they look at the back of it, just to see and judge the quality of the stitches. When you make a quilt for a bed, the back needs to be just as pretty as the front. I've only made one real bed quilt. I loved designing and sewing the quilt top, but hand quilting turned out to be not so much fun.  My Mom finished it for me. 

The back of an art quilt, on the other hand, doesn't usually show. It just hangs on the wall.  However, the art quilt aficionados will ALWAYS try to lift the quilt to see the back.  The intricacies of the quilted stitches and thread painting are what make art quilts "works of art".  I'm presently working on my second art quilt, inspired by the colors of New Mexico. I am using a multi colored thread in the bobbin, so the back of the quilt is quite interesting on it's own.  I have a long way to go!

Some things are not meant to show their insides...like drawers.

Certain things are sometimes prettier on the inside...like people.  Unfortunately - or maybe not - we often hide our "inside" self to the world, only trotting it out for special people. We are basically vulnerable people, exposing our underbelly to those whom we trust, those whom we love.  We live on the outside, editing our words and curbing our actions to fit in, to be liked, to be okay.

Often, who we are "on the inside" has far more value than we ourselves believe.  In truth, we are complex and messy creatures...a wonderful mish-mash of beauty and ugliness, intelligence and stupidity, grace and clumsiness, generosity and selfishness, creativity and indifference, calm and angst, confidence and insecurity. Inside and out, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made".

Praise the Lord...we are reversible!

Laurel.  Inside Out.

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