The more I sew…
The more I sew… the less I write.
And my sewing machine has been in a frenzy of activity lately. Hopefully in a few days, I’ll have some photos to share. But in the meantime, you’ll have to put up with the ramblings of my mind.
I have two quilts (and quilt patterns in the works) just back from the quilter today. I’m going to be binding and binding. I also finished my night owl bag last week… projects that are all Market bound.
I’ve been working on a Halloween wool wall hanging for above my fireplace. And COSTUMES. I am convinced that one of the reasons I make costumes each year is so that I can return working on cottons and wools with profound gratitude. Silky polyester fabrics are naughty, I tell you. They don’t obey. They move, they slip, they do their own thing, even when I pin the daylights out of them. Maybe it’s because I don’t work with them often enough, and I don’t know the tricks. If you walk by my house and hear swearing through my open kitchen window, you’ll know why.
“ If you seek some special life outside of daily activities, that is like brushing aside waves to look for water.”
I love this quote. I only wish I knew who said it. I was talking to a friend yesterday, a friend who is struggling. I’ve been thinking about our conversation… I know my friend is feeling alone… like most people’s lives, husbands, children are good… except hers.
My friend Amy Smart from Diary of Quilter wrote last week, “The troubling thing about blogging and blog-surfing is the whole comparison aspect that women struggle with in life in general. Seeing someone’s best, perfect side, knowing your own worst, imperfect side, yadda, yadda. I know I fall into that trap from time to time -recently, in fact – and it’s easy to get discouraged.”
The idea that came to me after our conversation yesterday is that some of the trouble and frustration my friend is feeling is from comparing herself to other people… people whose lives appear to be more perfect. That’s what we show each other after all… our best selves. We save our struggles for ourselves or those closest to us.
What I should have told my friend yesterday is this… There isn’t some special, perfect life out there. There is just the life we have. And everyone, even those whose lives look so good, have their own private pain. Even when our lives are in crisis, even when things seem depressing or dark, it can make a difference to focus on all the little things that are good. The distance between sadness and happiness is sometimes no greater than what we choose to see.
Something we should all remember. And not just in terms of comparing ourselves to our anonymous bloggy-friends and fellow crafters online, but the other moms at school, your friends at work, etc. It can be inspiring to see the person who is going through a terrible time, but has such a positive outlook. It brings home how much of a difference that can make. It’s tremendous.
I’m with you – I’ve forbidden myself from sewing anything else until Buzz Lightyear is done. I understand now why Simplicity took this pattern out of production. It’s a PITA!
I’ve found water soluble glue sticks amazing in place of pins. You do have to wait that few mins for it to dry, but it might help with some of those slippery fabrics? I’ve only used it on cottons so far, but test a piece of scrap. Who knows, it might be the miracle you needed in the sewing room (it sure helped me learn to sew zippers! Pins and basting.. not for me lol)
Wow, thanks for sharing that quote. Soooo true and I love your words of wisdom in that last paragraph. I am bookmarking this post. I will be reading it again and AGAIN!!!
So interesting to read this post today. I had another comparison note come into my life today (it’s here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes/meaghan-smith/comparisons/10150287517435317). I think someone is trying to tell me something :) I realize after reading these and looking at my life that I keep trying to be that elusive “perfect” me by comparing my life to others. I guess this is my kick in the butt to realize that it’s about being “perfect” for me right now in this moment, not who I think or who someone else thinks I “should” be.
That quote is is so true. I have real problems with starting new and exciting projects all the time and finishing very few. I found somebody who says the quote is attributed to ‘Wu-Chun in 1249’. That is a long time ago and nothing has really changed, ever. (Love your website.)
AMEN.
(And I can’t wait to see what you’ve been stitching!) :)
What fantastic advice. I don’t know what I’d do without creativity and quilting. It balances out the hum drum of life and even the sucky parts. Quilting really heals all that for me. My husband is a glass half empty person. I try to convey what you tried to tell your friend – all the time to him. He struggles so much against himself. Unhappiness breeds unhappiness.
Would u accept my highest compliment of using… cut and paste of just this important part of you blogpost… It’s invaluable….. Know that i’ll quote and link back to You…. Thanks!!!!! There isn’t some special, perfect life out there. There is just the life we have. And everyone, even those whose lives look so good, have their own private pain. Even when our lives are in crisis, even when things seem depressing or dark, it can make a difference to focus on all the little things that are good. The distance between sadness and happiness is sometimes no greater than what we choose to see.
Goodness, I liked this post, especially the quote, much the same as everyone else :) I found your blog the other day, quite by accident, which branched to your favorite blogs, which branched to their favorites, and have suddenly found myself neck-deep in infatuation with the blogging world. A thought has kept running through my head over and over as I’ve read these excerpts from strangers lives, which is that I want to be these amazing women. Part of this stems from the fact that all I’ve really ever wanted in life is to be a wife and a mother, another part is that I love to craft, to sew, to make, and rarely succeed so nicely as you all seem to. But this post reminds me not to despair, that stage of life just isn’t here yet, I’m still very young yet, and you ladies are an inspiration that might clue me in on how to some day be the sort of wife and mother that I’d like to be, but for now, I am where I am, and I shouldn’t skip through this piece of my life. It is important. It IS my life now. It is what I should take joy in now.
Anywho. this was a very long rant to say I appreciate you and your blog, and Thank You :)