For most of my life, I finished projects on time or early. I come early to classes or meetings. I send birthday gifts or cards several days before the event. I ship holiday gifts to my family by the end of November. Its 'how I roll'.
However, when that stomach virus laid me out for a good 5 weeks (being sick and recovery time til I felt my best again), it gave me time to think about living life a little differently.
My quilt is scrappy, using what I had in the closet. This is another mystery quilt, so what happened when I fell behind is that I could see what these blocks look like when they are assembled. Other quilters bought fabric in certain colorways and everything coordinates quite a bit differently than how a scrap quilt will.
The other BOM is my 3-tones of Yellow for the grad present next year, and is also a mystery, so I can see how it finishes. AND the quilt designer had the devil to pay for presenting errors, which I think are corrected, so I can make the quilt one step at a time and have it work out. The only thing I did on it was to buy the fabric. I will start it soon, yet want to finish those things that are in process now.
It is probably cheating to wait for the reveal to work on Mystery quilts. That wasn't my intention, but ended up being the gift of falling behind.
On both quilts, I can use the insight and quilt with a bit more mindfulness than usual. I love the look of scrappy, and when I select fabrics from my stash, they coordinate.
However, seeing what others created before I got started has been honestly pleasurable. I really wanted to make a medallion quilt and this is fun. Being sick was not fun. Being down for so long was not fun.
However, the changes in me because of how bad I felt are positive. I am even shaking my head at how many changes I made. Here's a list:
1. myfitnesspal.com where I record what eat and what exercise I get. I had to lower the daily requirements to 900 calories and rarely even reach that number. The site gives me a message each day that I am not eating enough. My goal in using this site was to evaluate carbs and protein as well as some vitamins like potassium and the others. It helps me see nutrition.
2. New apps for my Ipad that include one for Napping (yes I need help napping), one for daily affirmations, one designed for contemplative spirituality, and some games to help with memory.
3. Gardening for only 10 minutes. In that time I can pull a Home Depot bucket full of weeds, or prune a rose bush.
4. Water Aerobics once a week. That pool is mighty cold, but it is a good practice.
5. Quilting for 1 hour a day rather than all day and all night.
6. Plans to finish the two scrap books I am making. I've sorted photos & supplies, and started writing the accompanying stories.
7. Returned to writing the historical fiction about LaBefana. Also, I am learning how to use the dictation function on the Ipad. I've printed out everything I wrote and started created a story board with index cards.
8. Watching tutorials on You Tube.
9. Signed up for a Zero Plastic challenge. I actually do a lot like this for the environment but see it as a opportunity to consciously do more.
10. I choose not to teach, not to lead. To that end, I am listing more of my books on Amazon, and minimizing my household possessions.
Because this blog is meant to share what spiritual lessons I learn while quilting, I would like to say that being spiritual is who I have always been. That's not to deny my wild side, because it is there. Believe me, it is there. I did a little research into the fixed stars and discovered another one in the 9th house of spirituality in my astrology chart. Fixed means it is a lifelong influence. And this particular star is part of a constellation that is far enough from us, and close enough to influence our lives.
It will be at the same location but shifts in the charts of other people, so influencing them differently.
Aging started to get hard on me. I started sinking into depression over the losses of energy, stamina and flexibility. Oh sure, everyone who gets older experiences the losses. I just needed or wanted to maximize my life for as long as I have it, whether it is five minutes, five years or 15 years. I want to focus on living. And to do that, you need a plan.
Well, doing all the other things for body, mind and emotions was a start. The huge, huge thing for me was to create a daily ritual. I see comments people make about the way the government is being run. Will they vote? Or just complain?
I did not want to participate in any of it.However, I know that elders in communities, real or fiction, serve the greater good in their wise ways. They pray. They do magick. They change things. Or at least they used to.
I am a part of this circle in the solitude of my own home, at my own altar.
I cannot speak for others whose lives are different as they age, or are confined to recovery beds. It is enough sometimes to just make it through the days and nights. I am part of this circle too. And modifying the child's rhyme, 'when I feel good, I am very, very good; and when I feel bad, I am zoned out of reality'.
I fell behind on all of my activities, and think that this grief over my lost life made me a better person. Its probable that I will still look back and wish for more time, that I had made better choices and wish I was pretty.
Said this was a long post.
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