I’ve dedicated the past month to learning how to crochet, acquiring knowledge of a few simple stitches and putting this into consistent practice to produce pieces of my choosing. Not exclusive to crocheting, but often found from taking up and devoting oneself to a hobby, the following lessons have become more visible. Living in a work-centric society, allowing myself to allocate my time to the practice of crocheting may be perceived as an incorrect decision. Consequently, I have further absorbed these to-be-introduced ideas into my conscious, enabling me to grant myself more compassion to my choices.
- Your capabilities are uncorrelated to time. ‘Too late’ is not really a true concept, most definitely not for hobbies. You are not too old or too young. The time it takes you to progress is never too slow, never wrong. The fact that you’re doing, that you are learning and acquiring and progressing at all is an accomplishment. If you’ve learned 4 stitches, that’s 4 more than before and you can create so much with so little. Let your imagination run.
- You are not solely your labor. You can put it down and pick it up whenever you please, as there is only a timeline if you set it. You are not only what you produce for monetary gain. Your hobbies and personal ventures provide additional definition to your being. You are whatever you decide, you are malleable, you can change your hobbies and start over and add on whenever and there should be no shame. Your creative work is for you: for your enjoyment, for the productions you wish to make, and potentially those you wish to give them to. You are not only your job, you do not have to be limited by what specialization you can make money from. Money is made for survival (i.e. necessity) and luxury expenses. Money’s origin is not where your existence stops, and your time is for what you please, as you are able.
- There is not a right way to be a ‘woman.’ If your hobbies align with traditional rationalizations of how a woman should occupy her time, that does not make you more or less a woman. It does not make you bad or good to pursue this form of creation. It does not make you more or less a the right kind of woman to pursue any hobby. You can recognize the socialization that may have guided you into your interest, but your pursuits do not mean you are or are not fulfilling a proper role. And, too, you are not better for rejecting traditional conceptions of womanly activities, as we need to create a world where you are not forced to reject these hobbies because they are what seems expected of you.
- You can create. So can anyone. You do possess drive. If you struggle to locate your passions and you find that you have passion to crochet, then it is a good thing to be passionate about. Here in your hobbies you are reminded that passion exists within you. You should be proud of that, no matter the venture it is directed at. Your passion exists for this and it will be there for other things. Let yourself bask in the idea that you can create and that you have passion.
- You, as does everyone, possess a uniqueness. You are not more or less special, we are all equal; but we all have magic. Your creations, with your little mistakes and faults, your free-hand patterning, your productions off of the few stitches you’ve learned so far, will always be your own. You can crochet without a pattern, which is such a freeing practice that requires trusting your intuition, making mistakes, redoing stitches, and finding satisfaction in not being perfect. You do not have to be dramatically different or completely unique to be special, we all take inspiration. But you will have your creations and they are special in their faults and your ideas. You therefore can create anew.
To protect, preserve, and celebrate the inner child, the younger, more adventurous you, the you before doubts, you need to believe. I learned to believe more through practice. Crocheting is the numerator, but the idea of creation and letting be however our heart is navigated is the defining denominator of us all.