Finishing UFOs

Occasionally, I have a burst of energy, and peruse my pile of UFOs (unfinished objects), or in the case of knitting, my bags of UFOs. This week, I discovered a stack of bags buried deep in my craft closet. Two projects, I did not know the needle size or what pattern I was using. Fortunately, Ravelry has all of my projects entered, so I had that the means to get this data.

It feels good to finish a boat load of projects, but last night this feeling came across my mind that I might not have enough projects in progress. This happens to me, the feeling that I need to have a few, or more than a few projects going at all times. When I travel I make sure to always bring more projects than I need. No surprise, I always pack my knitting first in my suitcase.

In this time period, I started a small knitting project, and finished it.

I wonder if there will ever be a time when I have no UFOs? I doubt it. This is like spring cleaning, or as close to spring cleaning as this house is apt to get!


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Creativity is a process

At the Vermont Quilt Festival last year, I took a class which was much more design than quilting. Of all the classes I have taken this one has helped me the most.

I am making fabric collages lately, just 8.5 inches by 11 inches of fabric to design a journal quilt or fabric collage.

Since that class last year, I have been more comfortable with the process of design. Some of my collages may never be done. One in fact has been on my kitchen counter for a few weeks. I walk by and every time one part of not is not working. I kept trying to make it work but it never will. I had to replace one of the pictures and did not really want to do that. Finally today I found another picture that will work, printed it and overlaid the first picture. It works almost perfecting with some fabric fudging.

The lesson for me is to not settle until I am satisfied with the design and to listen to my design self. It may never be finished but don't settle for mediocrity. The teacher emphasized that in our class we may not leave with a product but the process of design is the important part. I am learning and by leaving it out and walking by it with a quick glance it let's me continually assess what I like and what I don't like.

This is probably crystal clear to artists but I am just now getting comfortable with the design process.


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The opposite of faith is certainty - Anne Lamott

I saw this quote on my friend E's Facebook and it caused me to stop in my tracks. This is much more succinct than I have been trying to articulate recently.

Recently in our covenant group I have been trying to get members to be OK with uncertainty. Uncertainty of what another member means by what that person just said. Uncertainty that you understand their entire life history. Uncertain of what a reference means.

During covenant group, if we try to be certain of all of these, it stops the flow of the person speaking. It might inhibit someone from saying what they want to, if they are going to be questioned, or stopped, or queried.

A covenant group is not a normal back and forth conversation. It also is not like a thesis defense, where you have to back up with facts, what you say. One ground rule is that you cannot challenge what someone says. That is their truth at that point in time.

So this quote helps me quickly say all of this. It also helps me understand what faith means to me and why this ground rule is so important for our group and for the development of my faith.

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Yes, BUT I am not getting paid for that

In a conversation with my brother M, I was aghast again at how differently someone reacted to how I reacted. In fact yesterday the number of times that happened to me was astronomical. He asked,"isn't that what you do for work, understand differences?". I replied, "Yes, but I am not getting paid for this."

It is so easy to coach and advise others on differences between themselves and others, often using Myers-Briggs. It is near impossible to do it for myself especially when I get emotionally involved, AKA hooked. This is especially apparent when I am in charge and being challenged by that person. Don't they see that I am in charge and have 51% of the vote. I don't like to pull the trump card but I will.

So, yes this is what I do for work, understand differences, and point them out. Thankfully there are people in my life who will do the same for me. And I laugh at myself for being human.

Eternal Optimist?

I sometimes struggle with this.  Am I really the eternal optimist or is it a mask for an eternal pessimist?  Three occasions recently convinced me that I am an eternal optimist.  The first was pulling out of our driveway after a record amount of snowfall for the winter, and saying "The winter was not really that bad after all."  I would have been run out of town by half the population if I had said this in their company.  There are no 5 feet snow banks left, and even though there is snow predicted, we are in the home stretch of getting to warmer weather.  The second one was finding this card that my friend Susan gave me in the late 70s.  It has been on my bulletin board since then.  In an effort to clean up my bulletin board, I took a picture of the front and the inside of the card, and put it away in a file.  It pretty much does fit my personality, the card that is.

However, there are times when I get pessimistic, and expect the worst.  I have a vivid imagination and when my family is out on the road, and a bit late, I am convinced they are dead from a car accident.  I am sure that my kids burned down the house while they are using it in Vermont. 

I think having this vivid imagination is not very useful.  "Worry is the misuse of imagination", is how one of our group once said it.  That does not help when I am imagining the worst.  I have to pull myself out of these images and talk with my Rock of Gibraltar who is usually the voice of reason.

OK, so being an eternal optimist is not always great.  I don't see the potholes in life and will too easily jump on the latest idea without considering the downfalls.  That is why I surround myself with Eeyores.

I am what I am, and I love this card as evidenced by it's presence on my bulletin board for over 40 years.

Give it up to the snow!

Rant alert!!!!!

Ok, so there is snow coming down and it has been a mighty winter but would everyone please chill out. We cannot control the weather, unless global warning is in that category, in which case we are controlling it.

As I drove around doing errands just now, YES, it was snowing. But winter is almost done and it is officially spring after all.

As we pulled out of the driveway yesterday and remembered the 5 foot snow bank, I reflected "that was not such a bad winter!". Remember I am an eternal optimist and please don't throw any rotten tomatoes across the Internet at me. I warned you this is a rant.

Maybe the comments made about the weather make it so we don't have to talk about Japan or Libya. Have you ever noticed that small talk is often about the weather. Nice safe topic we can all identify with.

In fact at a lay led service recently the winter weather was a prime topic, but many of us are on the other side of the coin and don't need winter to be over so soon. We are not so tired of the winter weather just yet. We should retire north, and those tired of winter in January, better retire to Florida.

Yes, it is snowing, and yes in 2001 there was an April Fools storm, and yes this weekend it was in the 60s. We cannot control the weather but we can control our reaction to it. Spring is here, the sun will come out and we won't have snow on the ground in May.

Rant over!!!!!


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Another blog about Yoga

With the rejoining of the YMCA, I am exploring the yoga teachers there to see which ones I like. I went last night and Marilyn was teaching the class. I have been to her classes before when I was attending the Y faithfully. By 7 minutes into the class she was still waxing philosophically with a man who asked "if this is a non violent practice, why do we have swords and warrior positions?"

I started to get very irritated that she was not starting the "class" on time. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I caught myself and realized that this was the class and that not all teachers will be the same. Marilyn is the one I learned when i attended her class before, to move between poses with a mindful deliberate movement, which was a huge gift.

One thing I have learned through my practice is to focus on the space contained by my mat, and not worry about the others around me. When I am gazing, I keep my gaze within the boundaries of my orange rectangle. This helps me not worry what what others are thinking about my pose, and outside the rectangle, it helps me not be judged by others.

I thought when the class started slowly last night that it would not be a challenge, but the way my muscles feel this morning, in the end I got a good workout. My learning is that no motion, and holding a pose quietly, and being very still, is actually a lot of work.

I started yoga just about 4 years ago. When I started many of the poses were a challenge, and some I could not do, or I did them reluctantly. Those are some of my favorite now. Yes, I resist change, but then adopt it eagerly. As I settle into a routine and figure out what teachers to go to regularly for my yoga practice, Marilyn and her style will be included, but 12 hours ago, at the beginning of her class, this was not the case. What happened?

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