Original Piece:
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Apprised, a Retrospective
NFS
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Free hand stitching on hand dyed organza, fastened to hand-cut card weight paper.
Book was bound using a modified Japanese stab binding stitch.
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Did you ever see a “red flag” in a relationship and instead of heeding the warning, you ignored it or made an excuse for it instead? Maybe you even moved toward the person or situation despite the warning? Or maybe you ran fast and far in the opposite direction. Either way, you are not alone.
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Apprised, a Retrospective started as a documentation of red flag warnings, but it soon became apparent that only focusing on the red flags does not tell the whole story. The whole story of relationship includes the green flag indicators of healthy relationships as well.
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Hundreds of flags were written during community flag writing events, through social media comments and private communications. Even though they are on wedding dresses, people wrote about all relationships: friendships, business ventures, me-too moments, family members, and love interests. There are flags about what has been experienced, what has been observed, and what is wished for. The ability to be aware of red flags and identify the green flags is integral to healing unhealthy patterns we have about the people we chose to give our love, time, energy, and our lives to.