Well, here we all are.  Wherever you are and whatever you are able to do to keep on keeping on, blessed be you and yours!

Those of us who have interests we can pursue at home on our own are fortunate indeed.  Certainly, as my calendar has emptied, I find I have more time to knit.  And I always have plenty of knitting to do!  But I am not just enjoying knitting more these days, I am craving it more.  I am happier when I knit — calmer, too, and my spirit opens up so that I become a more generous, more patient, more upbeat person.  

But what makes that happen?  I wondered.  I pondered.  And I decided that it is “process.”  It is working at something that progresses by the power of my thoughts and actions (when I feel powerless in so many other areas).  It is physical connection to something real (when I have lost physical connection to many of the people and places in my life).  It is movement from the past, through the present, to the future (when I feel that we are living in some alternate reality that has broken from all we have known — and when even the immediate future is unfathomable).  

In addition to the experience of “process,” knitting draws me in and gives me something else to think about.  It is something I understand.  Something that makes sense to me.  It also gets me out of the storm of words — as I text more, check my email more, tap into social media more, FaceTime and phone call more — and generally just talk more! — to keep up with family and friends amid daily changes.  And if I seek a little distraction in books or movies?  More words!  But knitting is essentially wordless — and I appreciate the rest and respite it gives me.  

And finally, knitting grounds me in the here and now.  My brain and my hands are engaged in what I am doing — and even with simple knitting, my mind cannot wander too far afield.  This is the meditative quality of knitting — the “getting in the zone” where I am completely present to, well, the present.  

I believe that individuals finding creative and playful ways of keeping on is going to keep our Communal Mind and Communal Spirit healthy — amid the stringent measures we are taking it keep the Communal Body healthy.

And, guys, it doesn’t have to be knitting, of course!  Jigsaw puzzles, baking, gardening, painting, carpentry, building with LEGOS, sewing, constructing just about anything, arranging flowers, dancing, playing board games…..

You get the idea.  So, let’s keep creating and keep playing — and keep on keeping on.