I am working on a big rug. Big enough to slow me down. And that's good. Big enough that it cannot be finished in a few weeks. Big enough too steep in. Big enough to settle into. And that has got me lost in green and goldenrod and undergrowth and forget me nots. Big enough that I have to stop and write because that is enough for one day.
We need big projects sometimes, the ones that could feel overwhelming if you let it. But you don't let it because it is the thing you chose. The thing you really want to do. So you let it guide you a bit. That is what this rug is doing for me. It is setting the pace. If other ideas come into my mind, I just have to let them simmer, slide them to the back burner. There's no room for them right now. I can take a few minutes and sketch them out or write them down, but I am already dedicated to a big rug.
It is an immersion. I need this every once in a while. Not just to see it on the wall but for the beauty of slow.
Slow me down.
Let me wonder.
Let me ride this slow wave of hope that comes with working big.
Let me risk weeks or months on the promise of possibility.
Let me love the moments spent in the quiet of my own heart.
I am happy to have this project to go to time and time again. Knowing that it is waiting for me means I don't have to ponder what to do next. It is big enough that the image keeps changing so there is always change with in it. I am a project person. I like to dig deep into things.
As much as I like to get things done and move on to the next thing, I know there are times that real growth requires staying close to something a long time. For example rug hooking itself requires this. Once you have hooked a field, what is required is to hook more fields. Once you have hooked a tree what is required is to hook more trees.
This is how we learn. It is how we get better. It is how we become good at what we do. We make and make and make. We don't make for a reason. We make to make.
Over the years I have made floor carpets and big rugs, usually one or two a year and they have taught me a lot. One thing they taught me for sure is to focus deeply on something. It sits there and insists you meet it. I carry it into sleep with me transitioning colours in my mind and loving what I see.
I love the beauty emerging slowly. Knowing that each stitch I make is such a tiny part of the whole. Isn't that something. Like every breath we take is a tiny part of a bigger life.
I recommend it. Get lost in your rug hooking. Big for you may be 15 by 15, that's ok. It is different for everyone. You define your own perimeters and boundaries because they are yours. Just make. Be sure to make. There is so much beauty found just in the making,
Thank you for reading.
