Pattern is evident in many things. Pattern is created by repetition of something. This can appear in many forms in nature, design, music. There is even a pattern to our heartbeat and breathing that is very stable unless something is terribly wrong with us.

In design, pattern occurs in repeated geometry, line, dots, or a mixture of all of those. Whatever is repeated is the pattern. Pattern is very pleasing to the eye, taking in the relaxed occurrence of something predictable. People like predictability and take naturally to pattern.

There is a pattern to the way animals travel and migrate. There is a deer path behind our house indicating the deer follow the same path as they travel through our property frequently. Birds migrate, some extreme distances, following a pattern that is innate to them and their kind, as do the Monarch butterflies as they fly from America down to Mexico. There is also a very distinct pattern to a Monarch’s color and wing design.

The Circadian rhythm for us sets us up for pattern for sleeping, rising from sleep, eating, that controls our physical, mental, and behavioral changes. Our patterns for sleep and wakefulness depends a lot on the light and darkness, and can be easily disrupted with a time change, or loss of sleep.

Native Indian blankets have pattern tied to the meaning of culture, land, animals and nature. Different tribes also can have pattern designs that are indicative to their own group of people. Patterning here is very important for tribal identification.

Patterning in music is extremely important because that is what music is. Some composers experiment with rhythms that do not have a predictable pattern that gives the music a particular edgy feel to it. Bela Bartok was a good one for that. But major symphonic pieces of work have predictable rhythm and even notation patterns.

So, as you can see, patterns and rhythms are part of all of our lives every day. It affects everything we do, see and feel. Not just in the area of art, but totally in the world around all of us.