My current obsession, the One Block Wonder, is comprised of six hundred equilateral triangles. The first few steps are the same every time.

1. Cut the long swath of fabric into six repeats. That means you find the precise beginning of each design, and layer these in a stack. 

2. Cut these pinned stacks into strips, often four inches wide. 

3. Cut the strips into sets of six identical equilateral triangles. 

Then things get interesting. 

When you pick up a sextet you are faced with a triplet of options. The dynamic of the block shifts with the color that ends up as a centerpiece. If the pink petals are in the middle and the cream spaces are to the outside, the block reads as pink. If the black is in the hub and the yellow leaves are farther out, the black dominates. Being the focus of the hexagon amplifies that part of the design, leaving the other elements to become peripheral. 

It reminds me of life. 

Each of us is given a hundred chances to chose what we bring attention to. The rain outside. The kink in our back. A good book we stayed up late reading. Music floating in from the living room. Birds outside the window. A perplexing email. A conflict at work. Our brains have a way of multiplying those elements like so many hexagons, amplifying their impact. It can bring color to our minds or push it to the margins. 

A friend whose marriage had been thrashed with indiscretion told me about their journey. Yet the part that she held front and center was the emerging forgiveness. She held that as the most important part, while pain was pushed to the edges. 

I guess the overall beauty of a year or ten shows up when the medley of unique blocks lie side by side.