The rich cultural tapestry of life

Today's HM Queen Elizabeth 11's message to the Commonwealth suggests we focus more on the fundamentals we have in common and on the rich "cultural tapestry" of life in this world.

This message struck a real chord with me for two reasons:

a) I bumped into a man recently who said that he feels that modern life is drained of meaning because there are "too many people sporting too many opinions and no two people think the same" e.g. people cannot get on because extreme individualism prevails.  We see this intensified by the polarising treatment of the media - and even politicians artificially creating "clashes" of world views.  The Queen, a peacemaker, says that we need to value what we have in common - with ongoing mutual respect. 

b) I am currently stitching a rich exotic tapestry of an Indian elephant surrounded by ritualised warriors which will definitely "spice up" our very English sitting room. Tapestry is a fine craft which looks chaotic on the back but makes a beautiful picture, on the front. It is made up, like Seurat paintings of dots, of lots of individual units (squares) of colour making an overall harmonious and meaningful design. See the design:
Ehrman's "Indian Elephant" Tapestry


For further information:
Listen to the Queen herself delivering the speech - her message has more impact on audio link at:
Queen's message to the Commonwealth : March 2012