Tying Up Loose Ends

Day 100:

Here are four of my finished (and nearly finished projects) from the last 100 days. The quilt is a fifth project that I worked on.  I also made a couple hundred hearts and flowers, and dolls for Radiance.

I have learned quite a bit about myself during the months of this project:

1. While I do sometimes abandon projects because I forget about them or get a little bored or get busy with other things, I think the main reason I have abandoned projects is when I hit a problem-solving challenge that overwhelms me, or when I don’t like what something looks like, and I am too overwhelmed to take it back a step and re-do. I am doing a lot of inner work and mindfulness meditations right now to break my cycles of overwhelm and self-criticism.

2. It is SOOOO satisfying to finish a garment! I don’t know how many times I have heard myself say, “I don’t have the attention span for big projects.” Ugh. Well, I have disproved that to myself right now, and I am definitely making myself more garments!

3. Working with others is incredibly inspiring. During this 100 Days, my friend Michael asked me to teach him and some other friends to knit. We’ve met three times, and one of the crew has finished a baby blanket and a baby hat, and most of the others are far along on scarves, and I am incredibly inspired.

4. Bamboo yarn may be hard to work with, but the finished cloth has such a beautiful drape, and it feels luxurious on the skin.

5. I see texture and color differently when I spend part of every day working with texture and color.

6. Art doesn’t have to be slogans and rage in order to be an act of Resistance. Authoritarians are against humor and art and tenderness and beauty. Create those things in everyday life, and you are doing acts of Resistance.

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