You might know this phrase, which I heard for the first time a year or so ago, while listening to one of the many audiobooks in my list, destined to make me a more organized, a happier me.
The answer to the question? One bite at a time.
This thought has been with me now for a few months, since I first started really diving into the project of writing my own knitting patterns. I’ve been a knitter for all my life, learned to knit when I was probably about 8, knit my first sweater shortly after, and my first really challenging norwegian patterned sweater a few years later. There have been on and off periods in life, where, just as with reading or anything else that isn’t absolutely necessary for you to get through the day.
As your children grow older, as your get more settled in your job, and as your life seems to gain some sort of semblance of control, you also get a little wiser. Or maybe, just get actually the time to sit down, have a coffee, and let your thoughts wander. (We’re talking about a 10-minute time frame here, don’t think I’ve got more than that before anyone comes jumping into the scene with some crucial question or need, or before having to drive someone somewhere, check up on homework, get on with laundry, … )
You start thinking more about the “what’s next?” And that is a really good thing, at least, if you allow your mind to wander.
What my wandering mind told me, or made me realise, was that the things that make me really happy are crazy huge projects, making up patterns, putting some fixed idea that popped up during the night down on paper, scribbling, writing, and getting all pumped up about the idea of what the imagined sweater or accessory might look like. And the thing is, just as with writing, reading, listening to music, or any other creative activity, once you start, you just can’t stop. You set off an avalanche of more ideas, more projects.
For all these years, I’ve been shoving these ideas back in place, because there really just wasn’t any time or energy for it, and what the hell would I do next? I wasn’t a wonder-knitter, I didn’t know all the world’s patterns and techniques, I was just me. And this is where the elephant comes into play.
So I decided to go with the gut feeling, and to start doing one of the things I love, knitting, creating, imaging, being a bit crazy and illusory, and in the end, enjoying myself tremendously in the process. Setting up this place here is one of the tiny bites to get that elephant down. Having one dedicated notebook with my first pattern and test knitting it with real, good quality wool is another bite. Then doing the whole thing again, the third bite.
Will I manage to eat the entire elephant? No clue. Does it matter? Probably not. Am I having fun? Oh yes!
So, please join me on my very slow and steady snail-paced journey, who knows, maybe you’ll discover a little something for yourself.
Photo by Jack Hunter on Unsplashu