What We Name by Denise Durocher

Queen Anne’s Lace, Ottawa evening walk, July 2026, Denise D.

In Ontario where I live, there is an abundance of a wild plant that some people call “Turkey Weed”, but I prefer another name for it “Queen Anne’s Lace”. Doesn’t “lace” sound better than “weed”? And when you stop to admire the plant, aren’t the tiny white blossoms as beautifully detailed and delicate as lace?

And that makes me think of the power of a name, especially the names we give to describe experiences, feelings, thoughts, environments and situations. Are they “weeds, are they “lace”, are they both at times, or something completely different?

When I name a felt sense, I try to use the word that most describes it without ascribing a value to it. Not good or bad, nor right or wrong, nor positive or negative. It just is what it is.

Naming gives life. Allows growth. Opens to self-understanding. Naming is powerful.

My Focusing Companion will often help me find THE word I need and when I say it out loud, I feel relief, I feel seen and heard, I sometimes laugh out loud and exclaim: “Oui!!! Absolument”!! Something new unfolds and I am grateful.

Maybe we all need to embrace a “weed” from time to time to discover the treasure it holds and give it a name.

by Denise Durocher

May 2026, Scrap fabric with wonky thread tension, Denise Durocher

I was doing some free-motion sewing and nothing was working out. The thread from the top spool would stop unrolling, the thread from the bobbin underneath was hooking into the top thread and making a mess. I played with the tension setting on the machine, I varied the stitch length and width, etc. 

So I grabbed a piece of scrap fabric and tried more tricks, cut the threads and looked underneath. YUK!

Even if you’ve never used a sewing machine, seeing this piece of fabric, you know that something is wrong and it is time for the sewist to try something new.

Isn’t Focusing a bit like this? After a time of using our heads and hearts to understand something that is out of harmony in our life, we sometimes have to look at the underside. The side that is carried in the body, unseen until we turn it around and recognize what is there and say “thank you for showing up”. 

 
Scintilla Animae … The Spark of the Soul, - Denise Durocher, Fabric Art

Scintilla Animae – Spark Of The Soul

That place inside of each one of us .. that space where we see through the looking glass and discover the essence of what is.

It might not be your own word for it, but I sometimes call it Anima-soul, other times Ruah-breath, other times Scintilla – spark.  But whatever its name, it is a dedicated space where we are invited to dwell and to listen.

So, this is the place I go to during our lead-ins and whenever I need to be attentive to what my body wants me to know.

And .. it isn’t necessary to even have a name for this place.
We know it intrinsically when we arrive don’t we?

by Denise Durocher February 2026