Sometimes It's Best to Walk Away

Have you ever had one of those days, (I'm sure you have) when anything you attempt simply won't work out the way you want it to?  Well, yesterday I had one of those days.

I started a new design for the "Ode to the Quilt" series. It is a little larger than the others I designed previously and the design is a little more intricate as well. The graphing of the design went well, however, I could not for the life of me, choose the colors or patterns for the design. I use a variety of materials to complete the design, from paint to decorative paper to cloth to colored pencil, but yesterday nothing came together the way it should. I finally decided to walk away from the project and concentrate on writing.

Much to my surprise and frustration, writing wouldn't work either. It is not often that I can't find words to cover the blank space set before me. However, yesterday no words ran from my brain to my fingers to fill in the blank screen. Nothing came to me except vague thoughts that would not come together. My mind was a jumble of random words. This lack of expression frustrated me even more than the quilt project. And so, I decided some yoga and meditation were in order.

I sat with my legs crossed, my eyes closed, and began the process of clearing my mind of all thought. And guess what? That's right, you guessed it, I couldn't do it. I kept on thinking of something that was posted on Facebook. It was a picture of a girl sitting in the same position that I was sitting, and the caption read, "C'mon inner peace, I haven't got all day!" It was exactly how I felt.

I decided that it was best that I remove myself from creativity all together. I went to the kitchen and ran a sink full of soapy water, and with no clear intention in mind I opened the refrigerator. Before I knew it, the counter was overflowing with the contents from the refrigerator and I was washing the entire inside of the refrigerator. I was in the moment.  I wasn't thinking about anything except the wide, white expanse of the open refrigerator. After I it was all clean and shiny, I replaced the food and proceeded to open the proverbial 'junk drawer'. Again, the menagerie content contained within was spread across the counter, and a bag of 'junk' I would never use sat half full next to the trash can. I thought, "Wow, I can't believe I did all this!" And then I noticed the time, it was 10:30pm and I was hungry!

I made a sandwich and went to the living room and began to read, still bypassing anything creative. I must have fallen to sleep, because I awoke on the sofa around 12:30am. I must have dreamt of the quilt project, because I knew exactly what colors the project needed! I went to the cupboard where I store my material and there, close to the top of the stack, I found the patterned papers I needed.

Now, today I am having no problem filling the blank space with words... (obviously). Sometimes it's best to walk away and let everything come together on its own.

Thanks for reading. - Yvonne