Knitting as Meditation and a Vision Board Surprise

I can’t believe it’s close to a month since I last wrote to you. What negligence and with each day that has passed since the end of December, my embarrassment has grown, throwing me into communication-paralysis.

After meeting all of the new end-of-semester obligations as a first-time adjunct, there was Christmas to make happen at home, and immediately on the heels of Boxing Day (I love the relaxed freedom of the day and have adopted the holiday as my own), final semester grades were due. True sighs of relief could then be heard and I had energy for not much more than frogging this project and starting another with the rescued yarn. And it’s been knit-knit-knit as much as possible, ever since. While knitting, my mind is a-swirl with a myriad of thoughts, and this being the calendar crossover from one year to the next, I couldn’t help but think about ideas for going forward.

There’s a new yoga-and-more center nearby, and last week they hosted a vision board workshop. Such fun to go and find the poster board, scissors, glue sticks, and mountains of pretty magazines just waiting for us. To get us going, the instructor first handed out index cards and had us write down 3-5 goals for the coming months. On the reverse side we were to each make a brief list of our gratitudes. Although I kept my index card nearby for frequent reference, there is absolutely no similarity in content between my written list and the images and phrases you see in the picture here of my finished board. I decided that there must be deeper messages coming forward (right brain?) when I felt an immediate connection to one image or another, rather than adhering to the strict narrative of my index card (left brain?). I am certain that my hours and hours of knitting (and reflecting) are at the root.

Classes start up again next week. There are lessons to be planned. Literature to be read. My Knitting Break is over. But the hours of hand work and meandering thinking has delivered me onto the doorstep of the next semester feeling creatively refreshed.

My biggest ambition for 2011? Be attentive to the balance between the demands of the outside world and my creative needs. Essential.

Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by! I hope to be a better (that is, more regular) blogger this year, too.