Monday is for Mindfulness

It is always interesting to see what floats other people's boats.  This train of thought started at the WOYWW (What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday) Crop.  It was a lovely get together to celebrate ten years of the communal blog, started by Julia Budd.  Lots of chatting, lots of cake, some crafting.

Thanks to Lunch Lady Jan for this photo.

We were discussing what inspires us and what relaxes us.  As most of you know, I love all things parchment (apart from stippling) and it really relaxes me to hear that satisfying little click as the scissors create that lovely picot edge.  

Many people adore zentangle, or doodling and find that relaxing, while I find that it winds me up and I get more and more stressed.  On Saturday, I found two other people who feel the same about all forms of doodling.  It was quite refreshing I was not on my own.

I had taken more stuff than normal to the meeting as there were a couple of people who had expressed interest in having a go at parchment craft.  Two of them said the usual "I don't have enough patience", but after sitting down and creating their own PTC (Parchment Trading Card), they were delighted and remarked how relaxing it was.  Annoyingly, I had forgotten to take my box of tiny brads so was unable to put them together.  So I brought them home to mount and then send them on to their creators.

There were so many crafts being shown on that day, some of which I could appreciate for the skills, but would never be my choice.  Because they are not my choice does not mean that I cannot understand that others feel happy and relaxed while doing them.

We all have the option to choose for ourselves just as long as we respect the choices of others.   Sadly, our craft world is not immune to arguments and battles, just the same as the wider world in which we live.  No matter how hard we try, we can never stop that.

There has always been fighting between human beings since the first.  The dangers now come from the increasingly deadly weapon that mankind has invented, where one man can kill and maim hundreds of others in seconds and no longer even sees the true results of his actions.

If you are reading my ramblings then you are using a phone, tablet or computer of of some kind.  You are using some form of social media, where the click of a button becomes the front end of a weapon.  You will have, almost certainly, have come across so-called keyboard warriors, who cannot accept that others have opinions and views, and aim their vitriolic attacks quite deliberately at those least able to cope with it.  Like those aiming guns that kill so many without really experiencing the results, they can not see the devastating effect of what they write, being protected themselves and unable to see the faces of their victims.

Not so long ago, there was a group of people in our craft world who could not accept that there were new and, for some, better and more achievable ways of producing beautiful work.  For a while, Facebook really showed its worst side, with a small minority of people attacking anyone who disagreed with them.  For me and many others, the only way to deal with such unpleasantness was to just turn our backs on them by blocking them from view.  Right now, for me, Facebook is now a very pleasant place where I can communicate with good friends in freedom.  Anyone who becomes controversial or unpleasant just gets blocked and ignored.  Perhaps that would be the best way to protest against Donald Trump.  Rather than turn out to shout and cause trouble, just ignore the whole visit.

The way I try to look at life is fairly simple.  If you can do something about a problem, then don't stress, just do it.  If there is nothing you can do, then don't stress.  Concentrate on what you can do, and what you can do will be far more effective.

If you are still reading this, thank you.  I had not meant to ramble on so much.