Tuesday, October 27, 2009

on writing + knitting

grey hat

For some reason, I just seem stuck.
Call it a writing rut, or extreme laziness –
every time I go to write I freeze.
Words fail and frustration overshadows the hope of ever having anything to say.

I keep thinking – maybe it is not the time.
Maybe my words are not ready yet…
I keep having that thought – and the more I try to brush it off, the more it circles back.

My fear was to stop writing altogether.
To get out of the habit, making it almost impossible to return.
Because, unlike some, I don’t equate writing with riding a bike.
I equate it to knitting.

Sure you may be able to pick it back up again, after long stretches of not keeping your hands moving with needles and yarn,
but you will not pick up where you left off,
you will have to relearn some things,
you will have to force your hands to remember the motions that once came so easily,
motions that at one point became second nature.
Because just like knitting, writing must be practiced, nurtured, the muscles must be used or they attrophy, disappear.

And the art of both, although frustrating, must be nurtured to reap the rewards.

But also, like knitting, I find that there is a time for it.
A time and a season.
See, I do not like to knit in the summer.
It is too hot to place a ball of wool on my lap. It is disheartening to make scarves and sweaters when the sun is shining and there is no snow on the ground,
no chill in the air.

So, maybe now is my time to knit and to ponder and store up treasures for future writing.

Because, after all, I have not stopped writing.
Just the opposite really, I’m finding that this blog has become my writing outlet for this season.
And although I’m not sure how long this season will last,
I am content in the fact that the thread has not worn thin,
And the desire has not diminished.

2 comments:

CitricSugar said...

May your stitches become words and as beautifully connected...

jess said...

beautifully said. thank you:)

 
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