Wild Rose & Willow

As we have been weaving Willow, the Willow has also been weaving us. We are learning that weaving takes place on many planes, not just the material.

Last summer, seemingly across time and space, Willow brought me (Aislynn) & installation artist Yustina Salnikova together. As Yustina's hands threaded branches of Willow into an arch, I was not surprised to hear her speak passionately of her craft. To tell stories of places and people, to reimagine our waste, to find value in what society casts away. She is a weaver of relationship, offering her hands as a vehicle and voice to create a more connected world. I had found myself in the weft of Willow once again.

When Willow weeps or whispers, I have learned to listen. So, I followed this thread. Tending the Willow patch would bring us together many months later to imagine what story we might tell together. What, of this time and place and season, wants to be shared? If we open ourselves to the life force that weaves all things, what might come into form?

Through our hearts and our hands we arrived at the Willow Rose.

If Willow has been teaching us about flexibility, rootedness, reciprocity, and weaving communities, Rose has been teaching us about the tender courage required to remain open-hearted in this world.

Wild Rose is abundant and generous, sprawling toward sunlight and through dappled shade. Rose offers fragrance, beauty, nourishment, and shelter. The blossoms are delicate and fleeting, yet the plant itself is remarkably resilient. Rose reminds us that softness is not weakness. Softness can be deeply-rooted strength.

And Rose does not grow without boundaries.

The thorns are not an accident or contradiction. They are part of how Rose survives and continues offering so fully. The more we sit with Wild Rose, the more we recognize the wisdom in this. To stay connected to our hearts, to remain available to beauty, intimacy, grief, creativity, and community, we also need protection, discernment, and care for our own edges.

This feels especially important in this moment. Many of us are carrying exhaustion, uncertainty, loneliness, or overwhelm. Rose invites another way of being: one that honors both openness and limits, both vulnerability and protection. Might we be cradled in the Rose's embrace, find a place of respite, perhaps even allow joy? Might that fortify us for the road ahead?

As we walk the land of this place, Wild Rose is all around, along the borders, entangled with their many kin. Many may not notice the rose until the moment of bloom, but their presence is always with us.

So as we arrive at the season of their unfurling, and wide open petals, we invite you to celebrate the Rose with us, to acknowledge that we too are entangled. Perhaps, as Willow and Wild Rose find themselves woven together in this offering, we too are interwoven. We too are their kin. We too are weavers.

We dedicate this Willow Rose to our community. To this land. From our broken, tender, fierce and open hearts.

For more info on Yustina's other creations and our collaboration, click here.

You can experience the Willow Rose starting this Sunday, May 17th at Mt. Pisgah Wildflower Festival.