I watched a little drama unfold in the hallway of the Counseling Center one morning several years ago. One of my colleagues has been teaching another colleague how to knit. The new student of knitting brought his first product to work to show. It was the first 12” of a scarf. He proudly displayed it to his teacher. She looked it over, nodded, commended his good work, and then said, “There is one other important lesson you have to learn about knitting.”
She then took the loose end of his work and gave it a pull, unraveling two or three rows of his work. He gasped and sputtered, “What are you doing?”
She replied that he had to learn how to do that himself, to undo what he had done. She went on to explain that unless he was willing to unravel his work and redo it, he would be tempted to overlook mistakes, to just go right on with the product knowing it was not done as well as it might be. It is essential to learn that the joy of knitting is in the process, not just the product. Unraveling your work is a good reminder not to get so connected to the outcome that you forget the joy of the knitting itself.
As in knitting, so in life.
This Lenten season, I plan to do as I have done for the past few years. Rather than giving something up for Lent, I want to add something. I plan to write, hopefully with consistency.
“Holding on, Letting go” is a theme that has been salient for me lately. The phrase holds many meanings for me today. I hope you will follow me during this season of Lent.
1 Comment until now
Right on–write on! I will be the better for your thoughts, and hopefully you will inspire me to return to writing myself. Blessings for Lent and Easter.
Laurie
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