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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

the joys of doing things badly

saturday night i was determined to have some creativity time so i pulled out some wire, beads, string, and went to town. only to have to pull apart quite a few "masterpieces" due to all sorts of reasons. then, i kept practicing my wire "skills" on sterling silver wire and couldn't recall the basics from my 4-hour wire class a few weeks ago. ahhhhh. i was getting quite frustrated. never fun for creative flow.

then sunday morning i woke up determined to cut and sew my leopard-print laptop cover from the 10 yards of knit fabric i'd received weeks ago. well, the sewing machine had not felt my foot on the petal for a good 5 years and i'd never worked with knit fabric on it (only in sewing class 2 years ago). sooooo, i tried multiple settings to sew one side and ran out of bobin thread. when i pulled out the left side of my new must-have leopard-print knit laptop cover, i was horrified. truly one of the worst things i'd ever seen. i had to laugh. filling the bobin takes a good hour for me (on a good day) so i decided it was best that i pack for my week away and save the laptop cover for more creative fun when i return. i tried to take a photo of my "work" but the camera couldn't capture its "beauty" and one-of-a-kindness so you'll have to use your imagination.

after a good 8 hours of rest last night (and my multiple naps) i woke up exhausted today but excited about my 3 hours of yoga. while driving the country roads to a destination less than 10 miles away, i missed turn after turn, asked passing drivers for help, and oogled at the bunny and stag that crossed my path. my patience and good spirit were strong until the clock struck 10 and i knew i was late. oh, yeah, that coupled with i somehow did a 360 and ended up where i'd begun. how does that happen? and to make matters worse, i ended up behind a 3-5 mph road painting truck. i kept thinking, "there is a lesson here."

beau and pug came to the rescue and got me to the class at 10:30. during that 30 minutes of delay, i felt so frustrated that i was missing centering and meditation (ironic to get upset about such things), can't follow very basic country road instructions, and had to be driven to a place less than 10 miles away! during this drama, i reminded myself that a bigger person would go with the flow (as i had done during my 360 journey) and enjoy what is. then i quickly reminded myself that i wanted a full 3 hours of yoga, i wanted to be able to drive any set of quirky roads and not get lost, and that i didn't like needing someone else to help me do such basic tasks.

guess what lesson kept coming by sharon when i arrived to class? not labeling things as good or bad, but simply enjoying the moment and being with what is. genius! this was exactly what i needed to hear considering my thwarted creative projects over the weekend, my desire to finish a book proposal when all i seem to want to do is nap, and my inability to make it to my first class on time. i decided i would just be with what is and leave 45 minutes early tomorrow! resonate with the joys of doing things badly?

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is it about those types of days? They really can wear on you but I LOVE the idea of being in the moment and learning from it! How marvelous......I must remember to do that next time I am frustrated at the way my day is going.
I also wanted to say that I have been downloading many of your older poscasts and reading through your older blogs. LOVE IT! Thanks for checking in so much with us, you can really tell that you are committed to helping us along the HTC path. You are honest, tell us what you think (or were thinking or saying) and that is wonderful. It is perfectly fine to say what is on your mind.
Take care!

Miss Olivia said...

hahaha that's me too! only problem is that sometimes i think those people who find no joy in doing things badly get impatient and upset with me. i try not to listen to them.

One Little Birdie said...

I love the times that I feel at one with nature and enjoy things, so I think you were appreciating those moments. Then, you got frustrated over the moments you thought you were "supposed to" focus on.