What is now?

For the past 6 months I have not been working and have taken some time off. What that's ended up looking like is well represented by the title of this bog, Tea and Knitting. As if I need an exuse for either.

But, now I find myself ready, or rather forced to go back to work. you'd think I would have started this blog sometime earlier in this 6 month period. What I sort of think about this is that I often need time to see the landscape of my life. The boat needs to drift for a while. I now think and feel that I don't want to let this time go unexamined and unexpressed. It's been rich in many ways and has taught me great lessons.

It's now that I also realize that I've been very out of touch with people in my life and that this might be an interesting way to create a commitment to connect. Oh, I'll write about more than just knitting and tea. For instance, a favorite book of mine talks about "taking tea by the fire." The fire in this case representing our difficulties, our "hell", our struggle. Just that is plenty of fodder for writing as far as I'm concerned. Another favorite quote from this book, Steven Levine's "Healing into Life and Death" is "I make a cup of tea and stop the war." I think that when we are truly knitting or making a cup of tea, we cannot make war. We are in the moment and there is no room for anything else. Come to think of it though, there can be an awful lof of knocking on the door of that room.

So, are you getting the feeling that Zen figures in here somewhere? Yes, and in quite a big way.

So, those of you who know me well, are hearing my voice right now. And, those of you who do not know me so well are perhaps hearing my voice for the first time....

I begin to Blog

Sometime this past year, I heard about blogs. I ran across a person's online profile with a link to their blog. I thougth it was so curious that this guy would reveal so much personal stuff to the general public that I wrote to him. I asked him why. He thought my question was somehow suspicious and told me I must be a journalist and refused to answer any questions. I thought his blog of inner thoughts made him look like a prick.

Since then, I've come across blogs that really inpressed me in their beauty, insight and practical knowledge. That's the direction I'm going in with this. Well, not to impress anyone. I guess I just want a way to share my daily creative life with others.

I'm not great at keeping up correspondance, so I figure this might be like one of those long family newsletters that you get at Christmas. Only better. And, I suspect it will rarely be about my family. But, you get the idea.