Category Archives: Art

Yarn Along

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-Joining Ginny today-

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I’ve been working on a shawl based on a pattern from Tonia’s blog many, many moons ago. It’s a gift and I’m afraid I won’t finish it in time…even though the event is still two months away. It takes for-ev-er. Two rows and thirty minutes later, you’ve only gained half an inch. I think I’m beginning to understand what Ginny means. It’s made of a lovely soft bamboo yarn in gray-brown from my stash. I lost the label three years ago. (Yes, it is really taking me that long.)

I just finished The Paris Wife: A Novel. It is beautiful and devastating, telling the fictionalized story of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. One of the lines that has stayed with me actually happens in the prologue before the story begins.

He often said he’d died in the war, just for a moment; that his soul had left his body like a silk handkerchief, slipping out and levitating over his chest. It had returned without being called back, and I often wondered if writing for him was a way of knowing his soul was there after all, back in its place.

Somehow, writing feels a bit that way to me too. But oh, how I think most young mothers and twenty somethings can see themselves in Hadley at some point or other. I have a feeling this one will join the canon of literature That Must Be Read in College in twenty years.

I’ve also been reading through Simplicity Parenting and Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. I’m not usually one to read more than one book at a time…I usually read one straight thru cover to cover before I start in on the next one, but these two are challenging in good ways. I’m finding I need to leave one to the side and think awhile and pick up the other one. They fit together well in that respect. I have so much to learn. So much to let go of.

All in all, I am deeply grateful to be reading deep good stuff again. There was an odd time in the dregs of the dark years that I couldn’t read at all (for many reasons) and I felt the grief of that loss. Literature has always been a favorite companion and I felt the loss of it when it slipped away for a while. It is lovely to feel it all come home.

Art Friday: Scrap Happy

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Yes, it’s true. I’m finally getting to those pictures that have sat on my desk for nearly two years. I even scrapped a whole Christmas album. From 2008. To say things have gotten a bit behind is an understatement. I’m an ‘of the moment’ scrapbooker (and photographer). That worked fine until about two years ago, when I ran out of time to scrapbook in the moment. (I’ve basically had albums going for my children since they were born. At least the older three.) Now I’m really quite ‘behind’. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I never printed pictures that I wasn’t planning to use at the next scrapping session- until that session kept getting put off and put off. I’ve still got a few more to get into albums before that space on my desk is finally clear. Then what?

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I still love scrapbooking after all this intervening time. I have the luxury of starting again now; I’m trying to decide which way I want to go. I had begun to loosely implement Stacy Julian’s pointers from Photo Freedom. What is much more true now than it was then: I’ve got thousands of photos across multiple electronic devices. None of them are really properly backed up. It’s a project that I plan to tackle this spring as time allows.

I’ll be back next Friday with more scrappy-stuff. It feels good!

In which I dream out loud…

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poetsandwritersI’ve never been a particular fan of January. I’ve never been one to start a whole rash of new resolutions on the first. If anything, I’m one of those Debby Downers who only notes January’s turn simply because three more months of winter are ahead. (Bah humbug.) Oh, if I was really honest, it just makes me want to find a really warm blanket and comfy spot to sink into (or under?) until Spring decides to make her appearance. If I was all about brutal truth, I’d tell you it’s the first day of school in the bright symphony of autumn that always makes me want to start over fresh. (Yes, I know I’m weird.)

So.

January.

I’m ashamed to admit, it’s growing on me. (Debbie D is shuddering, ‘but it’s cold! You traitor!’) Maybe it’s just this season-this time-of my life and I’ll be back to my grumpy ways next year, but I sure have been dreaming a lot. Planning. Goal-setting. Thinking. Wondering. Measuring.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my computer and phone for a long time now. A few years back, I picked up what I thought was going to be a perfect job for my family/life- super-flexible, work from home. It was, and it wasn’t. The worse part about it, though, was the constant tethering to an electronic device. It wouldn’t be unusual to process hundreds (if not thousands) of emails in day. I picked up some really bad habits. One of the things that utterly brought me to my knees towards the end was how my children were both saying and imitating me being on the computer constantly. They wanted to do what mommy was doing, so they plopped down on the floor and made ‘laptops’ from lego and blogs and the like.

When I quit, I totally shut off the computer for a while. (Highly recommended.) I wanted to plug back in with my family.

Slowly, though, those glowing screens have found their weasel-y little ways back in my lap and I’m not happy about it. Conversely, I’ve gotten really bad about time and email management. I am working a small part-time job now that I absolutely love. It deserves my best attention when I’m working. So here’s what I’ve been puzzling out- what balance I want with these screens. The fact is, I can’t escape working online. It just is the new nature of work, and it is a huge blessing to be able to work from home. (I think this is true of all sorts of professions, but especially creative movers and shakers: artists, writers, etc.) The internet allows us to plug in and participate in some pretty exciting ways. But gracious goodness, there has to be a boundary line somewhere. A boundary line I can be happy with. A boundary line that means I’m plugged into my family and my analog life consistently, and when I’m plugged in digitally, I give it my best.

I’d love to hear what you have to say. Both Heather (Do you ever think about breaking up with your iPhone?)  and Elizabeth (Gathering my thoughts) have said things that really have my wheels turning.

I started with cleaning out my inbox. I did a quick review of what worked for me back at the old job and re-implemented it, using folders and rules and labels.  My goal is to keep my inbox at zero by the end of the day. It’s not always going to happen. I’ve also gone back to only checking email twice a day: once in the morning, once in the afternoon after lunch.

It’s a rhythm I’m after. It’s been hard to look in the mirror these last few weeks and realize I’ve strayed very far from my own personal dreams, the dreams I’ve dreamt for my family. In many ways those dreams are intricately intertwined. I need to have time to write and create, time to plug in with my family, a house care routine I can live with.

It’s been too long. That’s the bottom line, really; too long since I’ve taken a real inventory, dug deep, checked the water levels. It’s time to re-boot. Refresh.

Oh, January, I think I’m starting to like you and your fresh starts.

 

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