Stasia's Place Of Grace

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

 

ANOTHER UPDATE!

Thanks to Dennise and Nannette, we now have a lovely banner and a cute blog button for the MEbiusKnitAlong - thanks, guys!

Beautiful Banner By Dennise

Group Blog Button By Nannette

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UPDATE!

Thanks to Nick's suggestion, we now have a Yahoo Group for this project.

Please come on in and talk about it with us!

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Stasia's MEbius Project
Finding Your Soul While Knitting A Moebius
A KnitAlong Project - Join Me!

I was fascinated by this article in the September/October 2004 issue of "Spirituality & Health" magazine.

In it, author Parker J. Palmer illustrates the balance of our inner and outer selves - our beliefs and our actions creating our soul's wholeness - using a moebius strip. (He calls it his "Shaker PowerPoint presentation"!)

It is so hard to keep ourselves balanced. We want to make the most of the holiday season, creating happy memories for our families... but rather than sitting quietly, watching snowflakes fall outside as we sip hot cocoa with our kids while sharing the peace of the moment, what do we do? We instead yell at The Burdens, telling them to "Be quiet!" as we shuttle them from store to store in an attempt to get them, and others, all the gifts we think they "need".

We want to make our actions count, so we think about writing to our family members now to let them know we'll be making donations in their honor rather than buying them useless gifts. But instead, we wait until the last minute and then use our credit cards to charge things they'll never use, which we FedEx to them at exhorbitant two-day delivery prices, because we know they've already gotten us similar, useless things to commemorate another December holiday (what was that holiday, again?)

It's not that we don't have good intentions... we do! But sometimes it's hard to sit back, slow down, identify and act upon your real goal (sharing time and good feelings with friends and family), because the things on your "To Do Immediately!" list are dancing like sugarplums in your head. Unfortunately, they're bonking your brain so hard with their hard, sparkly skins that you feel like you have a continual concussion which even the most "fortified" eggnog can't cure.

Stop. Breathe. Take a moment. Remember you? The you inside of you? The one who is honest, kind, patient, calm, good, wide-eyed and rosy-cheeked at this time of year?

I can't, either. I keep losing sight of her, with every credit card charge... every toilet paper roll tossed in the garbage rather than put in the recycling bin... every time I snap at Jeff or the dogs because I'm worn out from trying to make life good for Jeff and the dogs... oh, yeah - THAT was the goal!

Palmer's article inspired me to start a new, soulful knitting project, and I'd like you to join me!

Take a break from setting up those lights, baking that gingerbread and frying your latkes, and fretting because you don't have the World's Most Perfect Wrapping Paper (Miss Kary's simple butcher paper and handspun yarn is the best wrapping I've ever seen, anyway!)

Instead, let's make a MEbius Soul Scarf!

Search online, in a catalog, or at your LYS for a pattern for a moebius scarf, or create your own (remember creating? That wonderful feeling of expressing your true, inner nature?) Make yourself a "Soul Scarf" - one that will help keep you focused on maintaining your soul's balance throughout the holidays, and beyond!

Focus on the stitches - use them to relax, to meditate, or to keep your calm while things around you go crazy (because it's these holidays that put the FUN in dysFUNctional, right?)

When your MEbius is finished, wear it to remind yourself of ME (or rather, YOU, but a "YOUbius" just sounds silly!) - of how your true, inner nature affects your actions, and vice versa; it may just help you refrain from flipping off that eejit in the SUV who cut you off on the highway, or blowing a gasket at the Starbucks java jockey who filled your cup so high that it flooded your floormats when you put it in your car's cupholder, dagnabbit!

For me, I'm hoping my MEbius will help me remember to recycle those toilet paper tubes... just kidding! I want to knit it, and wear it, to remember this: who I am on the inside affects who I am on the outside, and how I act on the outside affects my inner nature - permanently and with great implications! I want to be honest, open, and balanced in all aspects of my life and soul, and hopefully knitting, and wearing, this twisted yarn concoction will help me to remember those goals!

I also happen to like the idea that something a little twisted can also have beauty and a purpose. A metaphor for my own, flawed self, if you will... :-)

If you decide to do this project, and you have a blog or website where your project and musings on it can be shared, please let me know and I'll provide a link here for others. What do the pattern and materials you've chosen say about your inner self? What lessons about yourself do you learn by working on your MEbius? I would love to hear your story!

Whether you join me or not, I do hope you'll read the article and that it will help you remember who YOU are during this busy holiday season. Because, if YOU ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy - you can't draw water from an empty well! So be happy and Happy Holidays!

P.S. Spirituality & Health magazine is great. If you enjoy my Blog, you'll enjoy it, too, whether you are religious, spiritual, or just ethically-minded. Past issues are online - enjoy!

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