Basting the Layers of our Lives

Each morning when I come downstairs, the first thing I do is go to my room (used to be called my office pre-freetirement) to do my morning meditation. I usually begin with a devotional from a book someone gave me. Then I read from a book (also a gift) called The Quilt of Life, A patch work of Devotional Thoughts. I am always interested in how simple things can be very profound. It intrigues and excites me. Today I was struck by a quote: "Each of us is like quilt layers. Unless we are basted down, we wiggle away and do something dangerous." We all have layered lives. I like to think that my middle layer (my inside) is what keeps the rest together. It represents my values and beliefs and all of the things I hold dear. The bottom layer I think of as important because it keeps the inside safe. The top layer is the one that I care least about because it is just the outside--we all know that outsides tell nothing about us. Some people love showing just the outside--they even expect us to believe that is the true representation of who they are. I prefer to know the inner person and prefer that my inner person is reflected in my top layer.
Even though we have layers (I only used two here), we need to make sure that they are basted together in order that each layer supports the other. We fall apart, just like a quilt, when we are not properly basted. Quilts can be hand pasted, machine basted with a loose stitch or even glued together with a super duper spray concoction that we can get in quilting stores. Decide what you need to baste the layers of your life. I know what I use to baste my layers. What do you use?