Sewing is so much fun! It’s creative and relaxing, keeping my mind and hands busy. Usually. Occasionally, it doesn’t go as well as I’d planned. Sometimes, I finish a project and feel disappointed, sad, or even angry. “It’s ugly.” “My sewing is terrible!” or “Boy, did I mess this up!” are the negative thoughts that storm through my head.
And then, I hurl the offending project into the garbage can in my sewing room and walk away.
The thing is…the garbage can in my sewing room has some kind of magic within it. Often, as I’m off doing other things, a thought will pop into my head unannounced: “Here’s how to fix the mistake” or “Here’s how I could make it look better.” It’s as if the magic garbage can processed the information and sent me the solution! Then, I’m able to go back to the sewing room and do what needs to be done.
If no such thoughts come to me, I’ll eventually go look in the garbage can…to find that it has worked a different kind of magic. The item doesn’t look nearly as bad as when I last saw it! In fact, it might even look pretty good!
I suppose there’s some sort of psychology behind this phenomenon. It’s the time away, stepping back, giving myself a chance to think or to see things with new eyes. It gives me time to calm down and get my inner critic under control. I’m able to see the beauty instead of the imperfection.
But, as there’s already lots of magic happening in my sewing room, I like to think that it’s the magic garbage can doing its work!
