Monday, February 25, 2013

Meditation

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.”
― Elizabeth Zimmermann

There is a meditation that comes with knitting. A rhythm appears and it occupies your hands leaving your mind to think about the important things.

There is a difference between mindless and meditative knitting. Even as a knitter the distinction between the two is hard to describe. Generally, mindless knitting makes me want to stab people. Meditative allows me to relax, fall into the rhythm that the motion creates and think.

[Knit. Purl. Knit. Purl. Knit. Purl.]

You wouldn't think that thinking is something that is difficult to do. It isn't the thinking that's hard, it's calming down your brain and getting it to stop thinking about the frivolous things that don't matter like what to make for dinner or if your coworkers were laughing with you or at you or if that bump you hit earlier was just a pothole or a small animal. The repetition allows you to focus about the more important things like life and what the hell should I do with mine. 



Unlike anything else I've ever done, school, relationships, work, knitting is the one thing that I feel like I should be doing, that I need to do or I will go insane. It is the calming moment at the end of the day, it is the moment of solace while waiting in line, it's the silent friend whose presence is enough to comfort you. Everything else in my life can go wrong, has gone wrong, will go wrong, and yet I know that as soon as I pick up those needles and string, my life will make sense again for those few moments, that things do make sense and I don't have to think about what I have to do or what I need to do. I can focus on breathing instead of worrying about rent.

[Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. In. Out.]

Sometimes breathing is more difficult than you would think. 

No comments:

Post a Comment