What I've Been Up To

I don’t know what you’ve been up to - I’d love to know, if you want to leave a comment or send a message, you can even send via snail mail, owl or express fawn… but I’ve been up to little things that feel big. I’ve been getting creative and pulling out some crafts I had almost forgotten I enjoyed.

Growing up my grandma would always have a creative project. We loved puzzles and playing cards, reading, but she also usually had some kind of project happening that was always creative. She’d be sewing and crafting, crocheting scarves and making summer clothing for me and my sisters. I absolutely loved it! I always wanted to follow along.

She taught me how to crochet (though I wasn’t good at it) and sew. I used to have swatches of fabrics and I’d sew them into tiny purses. My goal was to have a perfectly straight and even line when I was finished with each section. I can’t really remember what I used to do with those tiny little purses. I just remember I used to sew them on this one couch in a small room on the second floor of my church growing up. I’d take my sewing kit with me everywhere (alert introvert, haha) and recently I found the small denim bag that held my sewing supplies.

Instead of putting it back in a safe nook, I kept it out. I left it on my writing desk and it sat there for months. Christmas presents stacked around it during the holidays. Days and days passed where I wasn’t writing in January, so I wasn’t looking at it, but something inside of me remembered it there. And every time I thought of it, it made me feel safe and happy in a way that is hard to describe. It’s like part of me was awakening a little bit. Part of me was remembering where I came from.

Anyway - one of my goals this year is to allow myself space to be creative. I think I’ve really needed it. It’s almost like part of me has been dormant for quite a bit and I didn’t even know it. It’s kind of scary how you can just forget part of who you are… I forgot that I loved to sew. I forgot that I loved to make cards and create things in general. I forgot that I love sifting through buttons and sorting random pieces of paper all while listening to classical music. I forgot. It’s crazy..

I wonder if anyone else can relate to this. Maybe I’m just crazy… I forget pieces of myself and then re-discover them like it’s the first time we’ve met. I guess that doesn’t matter as much as - I’m doing it. I’m getting back to my roots a little bit. I’m slowing down and playing with pieces of paper and sewing laptop sleeves all for the purpose that something within me absolutely needs to do it.

So, that’s what I’m up to. I’m living and breathing. I’m meeting with groups of writers, writing and dreaming and writing my dreams. I’m sewing and making cards and enjoying every moment. I’m not as focused on any particular destination right now. I’m simply watching the bubbles in my club soda rise to the top as I decide what I can create next.