Where's the Mojo?

In January, I christened this "The Year of Relaxing" with a sub-title of "Mistakes Will Be Made." In contrast to past resolutions (be more compassionate, get better about the laundry, floss more often), I have more than met the challenge this year. I won't go into details, but rest assured, when I relaxed* about things, mistakes were made. And we have all survived. It's been a great lesson for me.

I dropped many of my volunteer activities at the girls' school and instead took up more mentoring responsibilities in our struggling public schools. (And yes, mentoring a needy child is far more relaxing and rewarding than chairing a school-wide fundraiser or being secretary of the Parents' Association.) I was also lucky enough to spend some time volunteering for President-Elect Obama and participating in true community empowerment.

At the end of the summer, while in the midst of a professional identity crisis (should I go back to work after almost nine years? what should I do? am I good at anything other than nagging anymore?), I decided to spend Friday mornings kayaking on the river -- Goof Off Fridays. The time on the river, arrested only recently due to the cold, was deeply restorative and took the edge off all the questions that continue to swirl around me.

And what about the knitting? You would think that knitting would fit right into a year of relaxation. But lately my knitting has been unfocused. Picking up a project, growing bored with it, and then setting it down -- maybe forever. This is unusual for me. I almost never have UFOs hanging around the house. But except for some baby hats, not much has been finished in the past month.



Nothing to blog about. Nothing interesting on the needles. No sweaters. No scarves. No challenging colorwork. No stunning shawls. No cute mittens. Just a few baby hats.

I've had inspirational political experiences. Inspirational mornings on the river. Inspirational community involvement. But no inspirational knitting.

It's time for me to be pro-active about this. I refuse to let my knitting mojo be a casualty of The Year of Relaxing. I have a plan to try to get it back. Stay tuned.

*By "relaxing" I mean "lowering my standards." It translates into not vacuuming the house everyday, not obsessing about the garden, buying prepared foods now and then ... basically cutting myself some slack.