Back in my very first year of this newsletter, I wrote about my life coach telling me to sit in a chair until I felt moved to do something. I was horrified. A whole day? Doing nothing? I did it anyway, and it turned out that slowing down was exactly what my creativity needed.
I’ve been thinking about that chair a lot lately. As many of you know, I’ve been climbing out of a depression, and “just go create” wasn’t working. I knew creating would make me feel better, and I couldn’t get myself to do it. (If you’ve read my past burnout issues, you know that gap well.) So I took away every decision I could. No plan, no design, no goal, no good fabric. I grabbed some “extra” pieces, scraps and leftovers that no one was waiting for, and I sat down with a needle and thread for 20 minutes. I stitched by hand with no pattern, one stitch leading to the next. When the timer went off, I was stopped.
I started calling these my Meditations. Nothing about them is planned, and that’s the point. What I was really practicing was sitting still, and the stitching gave my hands something to do while my brain caught up. Each one started as a cyanotype scrap, and the stitching on each is different, based on whatever that piece seemed to need. I didn’t set out to make art. But I now have five abstract pieces, each 10″ x 12″ and framed, and some of them are among my favorites in years. Other people have been responding to them too. Two found new homes just last weekend, which is lovely. It’s a good reminder that the work that comes out of rest and low expectations can be the work with the most heart.
I’m not going to tell you that 20 minutes of stitching cures anything. But it got me back to my studio chair, and for now that’s plenty.
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