I felt good

Tonight I went to a needle felting workshop and discovered the fun of sculpting with wool. It was so easy to do – just use a little fish-hook like needle to shape the wool – but also challenging in a cool, creative way.

The workshop was set up so we would make a little Easter bunny in a cave. In the past I’ve been sceptical of creative workshops where everyone makes the same thing. I guess I kind of thought it would be like paint-by-number and proudly imagined I was beyond that.

But it was quickly obvious that 7 women produce 7 very different rabbits and it was neat to watch the creative process of other people, see how we all work with an idea and make it personal. I can imagine if we’d experienced, confident felters, the diversity would be even greater.

There is something so satisfying about working with my hands – whether its knitting or painting or needle felting like tonight – or even sometimes doing some chores like weeding, ironing and home renos. There is a great sense of accomplishment in seeing something take shape or transform right in front of me. So much of my day is normally spent typing letters so words appear on a computer screen. Sure there are processes and outcomes with this that I enjoy - but it’s a different feeling from creating a little creature or tidying up a scraggly flower bed.

It’s been a busy week for me and if I had stayed home I likely would have spent much of the evening working away on my computer. On Monday a friend invited me out to a meditation class with her and similar to tonight, I had the feeling during and afterward that this is really something I need to do more often. It felt so good to be grounded in my body for awhile, to be stretching and moving these tired stiff muscles that get locked in my routine.

Twice in one week... maybe there is a lesson a need to learn here. Perhaps a reminder of how good and necessary it is step off the treadmill now and again and remember to breath, move and create.