As I face the upcoming anniversary of the sudden passing of my husband, Derrick, I realize that I have not been writing as much as I used to, and writing is a healing process for me. Therefore, instead of simply adding this anecdote into my daily notebook, I decided to instead share it here on my blog. I haven’t written here in a very long time and I would like to get back into that practice.

My story for today, Sunday, 17th of March 2024, began last Wednesday when I chose to watch a film that randomly popped up in my YouTube feed. The black and white film from 1950 was called “Trio”, a set of three short stories by William Somerset Maugham.

In the background of the opening credits was an extremely intriguing symbol. I paused the film and sketched the bold lines into my daily notebook. Then I didn’t watch the film right away because the symbol was so magnetic to me that I had to find out what it meant. I had a mini-obsession to find out more about it. I went online and I googled it. I also did an image search using my sketch to find a match ultimately discovering it is a Berber symbol from Morocco, but I couldn’t find out what it meant. I couldn’t find a site that listed all the meanings in the way that I usually can, for example—adinkra symbols.

It was late and I wanted to watch the film but then noticed that “Trio” was the second of a trilogy of films, so I didn’t watch it right away. I instead searched for and watched “Quartet”, the first film, also a compilation of his short stories, four of them, with an intro from the author. The symbol was again in the background of the opening credits. I wondered if it had anything to do with the production company, Gainsborough, but ruled that out as they have a totally different branding style. I then suspected it had something to do with the author, but I did not want to spend any more time researching it because I had sewing to do, and I wanted something really cool to watch while I worked; ‘Quartet’ seemed perfect!

I accomplished a lot of needlework as I enjoyed these four entertaining stories. Since it was still early in the evening, I then immediately watched “Trio”. I also enjoyed these three stories very much, and I was going to watch the final film in the trilogy, entitled “Encore”, but I could not find it on YouTube. Disappointed, I put away my sewing project and went to bed.

This morning, very early this morning, 3 AM, I was finishing up the front of my project, (an English paper pieced cushion using hexagons of Kaffe Fassett fabric) and I knew I had about 30-minutes left of sewing to do before I was going to go to bed. So I went on YouTube to see if I could find a cool Arne and Carlos podcast video to listen to, but instead, a 30-minute interview from 1955 featuring Wm Somerset Maugham was suggested to me by the YouTube algorithm. [Link below] These suggestions can often be very annoying, but then there are these random occasions when I am very grateful for the algorithm.

The interview begins with images of Maugham’s property. One of the opening shots is of the Berber symbol, carved into the entranceway. The narrator’s voice immediately answers the question that had been on my mind for three days: “This symbol at the entrance to W. Somerset Maugham‘s villa is a Moorish shield against evil. It appears as an ornament and talisman in such famous books of his as Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale and The Moon and Sixpence.”

I was so excited! It is incredibly satisfying to know what this symbol means now! Because I get hooked on things like this, I am now trying to figure out a way to incorporate this fantastic symbol into things that I use every day because, really, who can’t use a symbol that shields against evil?

A thread broke while I was attaching the last row of hexagons and I will admit I shed a little tear when, a few moments later, at the end of the interview, he says, I feel that my life hangs on a thread, and the thread may break any moment.

This was such an inspiring journey of synchronicity, and in trusting that if you have an important question, something that’s important to you, and you wait long enough, an answer will be provided. I hope that this will continue to be the case for me because I have a lot of other questions that I need answers to, just saying.

Links:

The interview

Quartet

Trio

Arne and Carlos

No single video can capture the personalities and interests of this creative couple, designers who live in a converted train station the the mountains of Norway, but I did especially like this video of daily snapshots from a knitting cruise they hosted last year: