of or related to Elizabeth Scalia’s Little Sins Mean a Lot
Often when I’m teaching I point out mistakes, missteps, wobbles, imperfections in the quilting, places where I wasn’t paying attention, yada yada. I do this for specific reasons
– to show that even beautiful things have flaws
– to show that someone who has thousands of hours of experience still makes mistakes, poor choices, and bleeps up
– to show that when we stand back from something we can appreciate the overall work and beauty put into making this thing
– to help the quilters experience compassion for themselves (note to self – remember this)
– to help the quilters see that beauty is full of imperfections that have and build character, giving them definition
– and to model the “how to” and “how not to” talk about our work
So you know what’s coming next don’t you? I’m going to point out a personal character flaw, one that needs working on from a couple of different points of view.
I am a Procrastinator.
Ouch. Underlying this insightful declaration are a couple of things from fear (in a multiplicity of directions) and shiny things. Oooh this is shiny and I’d rather do this than do that. Also there is another lead in to procrastination which involves life circumstances and the need to pull my attention into another direction. This is in part 2020 and 2021 explained in a brief sentence.
In and of itself procrastination may not be a problem. Sometimes it is simply the place to rest and think. Something is niggling at us about whatever situation we’re in and procrastinating is the thinking place. Procrastination often becomes a problem leaning towards sloth or acedia, often with roots that feel bound up, twisted, tangled, gnarled – when it is based on fear, shame, or I can’t take one step further and I’m giving up right here and now, that’s it. Procrastination starts, for me, with feelings of overwhelm and fear and spirals from there to whirling thoughts of my own inadequacies. Procrastination also begins when I’m concerned. So none of this is inherently bad, it’s
So in conversation with someone very specific, I have a new word of the Year, a companion to Cultivate:
FOCUS
I’m going to work on managing this with a variety of tools at hand including my calendar, the timer on my phone and accountability friends. There’s still some digging and rooting around to do. I’m looking forward to exploring the gift of both Cultivate and Focus. I’m always amazed where and how God asks us to grow, stretch, become untangled, or in quilterly terms: takes out the Quilters Best Friend, has us spend time picking out stitches with care, sometimes a little frustration, and work on creating with Him. Oh that would be a good title for a blog post series. Creating with Him. .
Over the last few days I’ve been working on the retreat at Cedarbrake in a couple of weeks. I need to do some more prep and email the retreatants with information on what they need. I’ve also worked on a presentation for a guild in Florida that’s happening on Saturday. I do love the ability to offer talks and work with guilds in this way.
I don’t quite know how I happened upon the Abiding Together Podcast with Michelle Benzinger, Heather Khym and Sr. Miriam James Heidland. I’m going to link to Season 10 because they have 2 series of conversations one on being a Daughter and one on being a Sister that have bowled me over. Enjoy.
Also, God is so good
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 