Life Makeover For The Year 2004 - April 5, 2004
Week Fourteen Newsletter

"Getting Untangled"

About a year ago I met a very special woman named Wren Ross. Wren is a fiber artist who designs and knits gorgeous sweaters, hats, scarves, shawls, and much, much more. Shortly after our introduction, Wren offered to teach me how to knit (something I hadn't done in years). Like a wise and loving grandmother, she gently guided my hands to the right places and before long I was off and running, knitting scarves, shawls and for the first time this year -- a winter hat!

To me, knitting is like "creative meditation." The repetitive motion calms my mind and makes me feel relaxed and centered. It also gives me a way to share a part of myself with someone I love. When I'm creating a gift for someone special I often focus on knitting love and good thoughts into the object of my affection. It has become a wonderful new form of self-care.

In addition to being a fiber artist, Wren is also a talented writer, singer, and actress, and this week I thought I'd share an excerpt from a story that she contributed to a book called "Knit Lit: Sweaters and their stories and other writing about knitting." The story is called "Tangles," and it uses knitting as a metaphor for life. In this part of the story, Wren talks about dealing with tangles. She writes:

"I take it personally. I should have put rubber bands around the skeins, separated them, as the knitting magazine instructed. Why don't I ever listen to advice? I should give my skeins space. I should be more organized. Neater. And then I realize that this tangle has something to teach me about myself: how I get into tangles and (more important) how I get out of them. So I change my attitude and realize this tangle is not a problem. It is an opportunity. This is the first stitch of the "Twelve Stitch Program" toward fiber/emotional health.

Why *don't* I give my yarns space, rubber bands, plastic bags? Maybe for the same reason I don't give myself space for all the different parts of myself. I'm in a rush. I have made a list with so much to do on it that I am going faster than speeding light. Watch a bird outside the window?

Take a walk? Meditate? Huh! "Productive Woman" is here and she must work, work, work!!! So when my back is turned, when I'm sleeping or cooking, the yarn, like the neglected parts of myself, gets together and finds a way to make me stop. Take time and disengage from all the extraneous doings to find a quite way to be."

I love Wren's new perspective. This week, if you find yourself all tangled up in a problem or challenging situation, let the power of metaphor help you to find a creative solution. Take Wren's advice and use it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself. How can you use this tangle to your advantage? What caused the snarl? Did you get pulled into someone else's problem? Imagine yourself arriving at a solution by gently unraveling the mess one small step at a time :).