Stitching, It's Just Like Weeding

     Stitching is a lot like weeding a garden, perhaps it's why I enjoy it so much. I can spend hours in my white, comfy chair, adding stitch after stitch and feel completely at ease. I'm not the most patient of people, so it surprised me when I started working in embroidery that I could sit for such long periods of time adding French Knots and Satin Stitches. 

It's the calm that it brings. I'm relaxed, my mind doesn't feel like it has a dozen tabs open, yet at the same time, it's sharp, quick and clearly focused on creative ideas. It's seemingly opposite sides of a coin-isn't it?

The same is true with gardening. Planting a new garden can be strenuous if you failed to prep your soil properly, and typically there's a bit of redesigning on site. Seldom does a garden get planted just as it's drawn on paper- little tweaks are made here and there that keep you focused.  

However, weeding is meditative work that most gardeners say brings a calm joy. We can, as long as our knees permit, carry on weeding without really thinking about what we are dong. You just weed. 

Weeding, walking, stitching, reading, whatever it is- find something that calms your mind. If anything, the activity takes you away from the screen and social media, which I'm sure is a huge stress at times, while also a motivational platform that inspires.    

In an over stimulated, over planned, busy is praised, and 'Likes' are currency world, it's imperative to have time set aside each day to be off. To let your mind rest so your creative ideas, which we hold most dear, have time to percolate. 

I find my best time of the day is early morning, before I head to work a little before seven in the morning. So I plan, argh, there's that two sided coil again. I plan to be calm. I'm using my powers of planning for good not evil. 

That hour or more before work, when I can stitch, sketch ideas, or write are precious and something I fiercely guard. I'm also very protective of my weekend hours, where I can set aside large blocks of time to create. If I don't, I feel burned out during the week and a bit resentful. My work is mostly good, and something I am good at and enjoy, but if you have all work, no matter how grand, and something that is not yours, you will have resentment. At least I do.