Just Keep Swimming

One of the most motivational quotes that runs through my head on a regular basis comes from a cartoon. It's hard to believe but Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo offers some of the best advice with that one line.

Just Keep Swimming. It's simple, to the point and easy to remember. In my latest meditative stitching project, I chose these words to stitch. As I come up on a milestone birthday, deal with never ending house projects and manage through life's ups and downs, I try to remember to just keep swimming. Really that is what it's all about. We are all in this together and at different times we have to fight to stay afloat and other times we lead the tide.

Stitching and swimming; it's that repetitive motion- the stroke of your arm as it glides through the water or the motion of your stitch as it pierces the cloth. No matter how busy or stressful your life seems at the moment, taking that time to check back in with yourself slows you down and keeps you going at the same time. Just keep swimming. Just keep stitching.

Feeling Overwhelmed

This week has been a little extra stressful for me.  I'm a planner...it keeps me on track & it helps me feel like I can get what I need to get done within the time I need to do it.  On the alternate side of this- when I can't complete my to do list and things go off schedule I can start to feel overwhelmed.

There's nothing like planning a wedding and buying a house to throw a wrench into your already busy schedule of life and work!  This week we started arrangements on our wedding and have put in two offers on a house that we love.  As I write this, the anticipation of the answer is looming over me.

So this morning I woke up feeling completely overwhelmed and unwilling to get out of bed.  I forced myself up and started on my morning routine.

On a busy morning when you feel like there are a million things you should be doing and you already feel behind, that's when you need your meditative practice more than ever! Since I recently finished a project, I didn't have anything specific to stitch so I have been working on a scrap piece that I have been slowly adding to over the past year. 

 

 

Today I picked up a new color and didn't give it too much thought and just got right into it.  The pink design was what I added today- no plan, no stress...I just followed along intuitively.  It wasn't long until I got lost in the pattern and repetition.  Exactly what I needed. I know the day will bring chaos and I will forget to stop and breathe but I had my 15 minutes of  complete "me" time and that's what it's all about.