Untangled

One of the things that’s been ignored on a shelf is a dragonfly wind chime. It had become all tangled up, and I just hadn’t bothered to get to untangling it… until today. Some extra-hot days have meant the dogs and I have been inside a lot. While I’m not bored and looking for things, it caught my eye today and I decided to tackle it.

And tackle I did! I had it hung up at eye-level, so I could master the knottedness and get it done.
It took quite a bit of time, and careful work to gradually re-adjust the strings (whilst pondering how they got that jumbled in the first place!). Releasing one set of strings added a new challenge, as the weight dispersal shifted and everything moved. There were times when two hands were not enough. A few times I started to feel frustrated, so I simply left it as it was, and returned later.

However, after the care and effort (and an ice cream bar), the wind chime was hanging as it ought, with dragonflies floating carefree and reflecting the light beautifully. I’ve hung it at the window I had intended. This makes me happy!

As I worked on this, I reflected that this affair is not unlike human interactions. At times we get tangled up, and it feels like more of an effort than we’re willing to make: the process of straightening things out may feel overwhelming and hardly worth it.

Sometimes, that may be the case.
Yet we can recognise that other times, we do want to experience the untangled outcome: and so we commit to the actions necessary to unscramble the confusion. It doesn’t mean there will be no setbacks, or that it will be without frustrations. It doesn’t even mean that it will be a successful endeavour.

What it does mean, however, is that the goal to straightening things out is a priority. That the desire for clarity overtakes the easier road of giving up. And it means that the potential reward of beauty and appreciation is just on the other side.

Which means, to my thinking, that it’s worth at least considering. How many relations have been tangled, that might yet be waiting on the shelf? How many opportunities do we have to right wrongs and re-connect? How often do we simply give up when the other tangled strings are wanting to try and sort it all out?

Life is messy, and entanglements are inevitable. For me, the freeing the trapped dragonflies is time well spent.