Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
Chorus.-For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
Robert Burns, 1788
Tis that time of year. We look forward to the new year; we look backwards at the year that is passing. Often lost in the tension that inevitably surrounds that transition is the ability to stay present.
Last week I noticed a sense of unease creeping up into my days. With no obvious reason for the feeling, I was at a loss for dealing with it. Ignoring feelings never works. The only choice is to embrace them. I happened to be reading All Good Things by Sarah Turnbull where she writes about time spent living in Tahiti. She describes the feeling of ‘fiu’ that is accepted in Tahiti as a natural part of existence – a person simply withdraws for a bit and accepts their unhappy state of being. By accepting, rather than resisting, my ‘fiu’, I was able to examine what might be prompting my unease. I felt scattered, unable to focus, at a loss on what next for my projects.
Then, I looked around my studio/office. What a mess! How could anyone focus amidst so many piles of old projects, mail, fabric lying about. And so, I took a day to clean up. You would not believe how old some of the stuff was. Good grief was my thought as I sifted through one pile of notes and souvenir books on my studio floor – “we didn’t go to Arctic last June, it was June 2013.”
Amazingly, as I sifted and organized, I started smiling again.
I uncovered some forgotten projects – a scarf I had started knitting and lost interest in. But, wait, it was just the right length for scarf for my granddaughter’s favorite stuffed animal, if I just finished it off at it’s present length. A pillow top that I didn’t really want to make into a pillow. With a second look, I realized it could be made into a much needed storage pouch for my growing collection of lace and hand-stitching fabrics. Then there was the art quilt that I intended to frame…but never quite got to. I even had the matting! It is now sitting in a prominent place to be finished in January.
Studio/office ready for 2015!
Cleaning my office had me both looking backwards over all I had done and forwards to where I wanted to focus my energy in the new one – I bought those books on the Arctic because I was interested in learning more and creating more art pieces with an arctic theme.
By day’s end, I was feeling more balanced with more of a sense of purpose. By honoring ‘fiu’ in the present moment, I had successfully moved on.
Bring on 2015! Well, maybe let’s wait a few more days, those holiday cookies look pretty good!
Raven adorned in his new winter scarf.
Linking to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.
