I dislike the day 9/11. I always feel apprehensive like something else is going to happen. So grateful it didn’t happen yesterday, as the memories of fifteen years ago were enough to contend with. Life was so different then.
A new year for me starts today, and I have so much to do with it, at school and beyond. A goal for this year is to continue to try to stay in the moment and not get upset about uncontrollable aspects of the overall struggle that I can’t control. Unless I am in pain or really uncomfortable, during which times I have permission to open the mental escape hatch and do what I need to do to stay sane. Sounds like a plan! AND I will do SOMETHING CREATIVE for my artwork every day. Even if I do it half asleep before bed. I saw a FB friend’s post about knitting a dishcloth and I remembered the gorgeous one my neighbor Pat made me last Christmas, which got over bleached and destroyed. I thought “Hey, I can’t knit yet, but I can crochet!” and got a skein of cotton to play with, Voila -- a messed up practice dishcloth was born rather quickly and by the last half I’d remembered what I was doing, making a useable form. I worked on it to chill out while I listened to my audiobook and rested my legs. Very fun! I’d forgotten. Here is a funny post about the crochet I remember from the 70's...! Or, a more practical application...this Swiffer cover!
So, even if it is only ugly dishcloths for my sink, it is a new something for my hands and mind to do rather than just my resting, passive self existing. I remember having terrible problems with hand tension while knitting or crocheting when I was younger, and never really got the hang of it. For some reason that resolved, and I have even tension now. Ah, the power of aging. MIght even try knitting again, too, As I creep towards spinster decrepitude, I have to keep learning new things. I have a book by a textile artist that integrates crocheted and woven parts into her art, too...hmmmmm.
Marathon day ahead today with a doctor’s appointment right after school and then a happy meetup with my Dutch buddy for a belated birthday drink. Guaranteed laughs and catching up with rapid fire conversation. I think this is our 10th year of getting together every time he comes to Boston for his annual conference. Pretty good considering we just casually met having dinner one night. Funny enough, I feel like he really knows me and I know him, too, We are able to talk about everything and I value his perspective on things, and he is so funny. I can’t wait to hear his stories about fatherhood now that his little girl is turning one this month! I never saw this confirmed bachelor in the role of papa. You never know what is around the corner, I guess. Cheers!