Getting into my stride

My mum taught me how to knit. I remember her teaching me while we were on one of our long-haul flights to/from England. I remember the little red needles (I wish I had them still) and getting my fingers all knotted up in the yarn. We used to make little squares using left over wool and then take them to the local charity shop where they would be knitted together to make blankets. 

For a long time then I didn't pick up any needles... but now I have well and truly re-discovered the love I had for knitting when I was a child. I started again when I was pregnant - almost like an instinct kicked in to make something special for my little angel...and suddenly every woman in my family was beavering away at a little project for the new arrival. There is real pleasure in making something for someone else... it also helps satisfaction levels that making things for small people takes a fraction of the time it does for us biggies.

Now I'm really enjoying learning more about the micro-culture around knitting and yarn... connecting with people far and wide and sharing this love for the handmade. It's such a positive space in my life - I'm really excited for the (long) list of projects that I have ahead of me this year. I've even started taking it with me to work to do a few rows in my lunch hour!

  

bff...

'Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that.' 

– Ally Condie

My friend was over from Australia this week. She was in demand; being one of those magical souls who makes everyone feel special, has time for you no matter how busy she is, and is always, always smiling. I miss her. When I'm having a hard time, I find myself wondering what she would do...

I've said goodbye to some really close friends in the last 2 years. It's painful, but I accept it's the price of living in a transient community of people. Of course we would never have met those wonderful people had we stayed put - but rationalising it doesn't make it any easier. Now I watch my daughter start to make friendships and wonder what the future holds for them. Unrealistic, but I like to think they will be life-long friendships... maybe some of them will be. One thing is for sure - these two are inseparable at the moment!

Life isn't supposed to be Picture Perfect...

So here I am, four days late, writing my new blog. I have given myself permission to be late as part of my new years resolution... to enjoy imperfection as a part of my life, to slow down, breathe, give things time, and to enjoy the process rather than feeling relentless pressure to get to the end goal (of which there are many).

I'm finding it hard already.

Reading around my favourite blogs over the last few days I've noticed, although I'm not surprised, that many of my contemporaries have written about similar desires for their new years posts. How did we get to this point? Is it society, or is it the pressure we put on ourselves that causes this suffocating feeling of never quite having done as much as we had hoped when we turn in at the end of another hectic day? I wonder if my grandmothers, who had 11 children between them, ever stopped and wondered where they were in their lives. In any case, this new world we live in is a privileged place to be and I'm going to try to enjoy as may of the good bits as possible.

I'm a list kind-a-gal, but I am going to try not to restrict myself by making my lists about things with an end-point... so here is my (sort of) deliberately late game plan for the new year... in no particular order...

1. Slow down. In almost every aspect of my life. Cycling to work, cooking dinner, bathing my daughter; these are all things I love. I resolve to enjoy these simple pleasures, every day. 

2. Speed up. With the stuff that doesn't matter... it doesn't matter if the table on that Word document isn't formatted right on the fourth page - no-one but me cares, or will even notice.  I waste a lot of time trying to make stuff perfect.

3. Be more like the children who surround me every day. Honesty, creativity, curiosity, compassion... we adults have a lot to learn. 

4. Silence. Totally underrated in my world. I'm going to squeeze a bit in to every day.

5. Enjoy imperfection. Let things evolve: this blog, my approach to life, my taste in design - whatever it may be, let it change and don't be afraid to share the journey with others. Most importantly, keep telling myself this - Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful. (anon)

Thanks for reading, 

Bryony