Falling off the circuit into the lazy groove

4 weeks of this blog have yet to elapse, and I have been pushing this project into the UFO group of my life….these unfinished objects and projects, my dear readers, are present in every nook and corner of the house including the bookshelves and cupboards and drawers which have been acquired just for this purpose.

I call it an affliction—this ability to think big, begin big, continue big and then end with a tiny whimper as the project scampers off to the nearest available crevice to hide itself. And I move on, without a second glance, to the next big project which is brewing in my mind.  This affliction is not just for knitting and writing…I have it for cooking (banquet meals slide into one-dish presentations), de-cluttering ( one clean corner gives birth to a stuffed carton), socializing ( meeting one set of friends means slinking away from a dozen different groups), brushing the dogs ( daily went to alternate days, to weekly, to whenever) and , the worst one of them all—keeping papers and photographs in order!

This is my bay-window cupboard. It contains reminders and proof of my affliction. The top shelf has the incomplete albums of my childhood, college and family. The blue bag is full of my daughters’ childhood, school and family.  These photographs have been waiting patiently for a decade, through 4 major shifts of home and hearth, for me to sit and sift and stick and smile a satisfied smile.

And then, the yarn—the pure wool, the thick wool, the shiny stuff, the crochet cotton, the whacky yarn, the left-over strands and the new skeins—all waiting to be transformed into “things”. I do manage to complete a few things. Items slated for Jan see their day of completion in April or August. Some packets just need a little stitching or steaming. Ah well, this is not a new story in my life!

Summer vacation would begin and my mother would put on her long-suffering look. Bedcovers to be embroidered, saris to be painted, meals to be prepared by her eldest offspring—she used those UFOs just the way I left them—never completed till their final fade-out from the world. Yes, one tiny piece of COMPLETED embroidery adorned her room till she left this world. Her only birthday present I actually completed …and yes, that pattern book still adorns my shelf as a reminder of what I am capable of.

And that is what I need—reminders of what I am capable of. I need a reminder to use these capabilities to embark on journeys of craft and beauty, self-discovery, sharing and caring and bringing a smile on some faces. And I need to remind myself that journeys are not abandoned at the first sign of challenge. That all UFOs need care and closure and that this blog is not going to scamper into a cyber crevice and hide itself.

Yes, its time to do what I set out to do…write, craft and exercise—regularly.