SWEEPING AWAY THE GRIME: The Magic of Process

Last night, I taught myself to finger crochet. I didn’t feel like creating a knotted tapestry, I wasn’t in the mood for the crochet hook, and I wanted to do something with my hands. Out came the bulky yarn I had left over from mindful knotting projects earlier this year, and the grand experiment began! I looped and pulled and unwound, looped, pulled, unwound, and finally looped, pulled, and kept going. Slowly but surely, a thick rope emerged, and slowly but surely, the yarn ran out. Then I grabbed more yarn and tried again, figuring out stitches as I went along.

Eventually, I had 2 scarves.

I doubt I’ll wear either one out in public much. They’re going to be cozy neck-warmers for wandering around the house this winter. 

They are completely, wonderfully, and totally imperfect, and they are products of magic.

My new neck-warmers are also great representations of my philosophy about healing, movement practices, art, and creativity.

The vein of gold is found in the process NOT the product. 

Figuring out, playful experimentation, courageous exploration, fantastic mistakes, and the mindful, one-step-at-a-time parts of healing, movement practices, art, and creativity – these are rich spaces made of magic.

I’ve finally realized that my goal as guide and teacher – creativity, yoga, self-discovery – is to help adults relax away from our culturally encouraged product orientation and lean toward a playful, experimental, process-oriented approach. In other words, I want to help adults find the magic that children hold naturally. This magic is our birthright, and though years of “adulting” in our culture (along with layers of individual and inter-generational trauma) coat that magic with dust, the magic is still alive. We must simply take on the task of consciously sweeping away the grime to find it.

This sweeping is a road to healing.