A Good Whinge

The photo shows the textile that is, by and large, responsible for my leap into the deep pool of cloth construction.  You know, the bee, which isn't supposed to be able to fly, but does?

I live my life in much the same way as I weave.  (How apt!)  I pick things apart, looking at every little nit - er, detail - and examine it.

When I'm working on a big/complex project I process it by writing it out.

In the olden days I used to do that in letters.  Old fashioned pen-to-paper letters, to friends who understood that sometimes I needed to get those thoughts out of my head, somehow, and writing was the way that worked for me.  Or venting to friends over a coffee, but sometimes writing just more easily allows me to process the threads tangled in my thoughts and straighten them out.

When computers became more common, I had to learn how to write as I typed.  It's a completely different experience.  For me, at least.  Handwriting and typing seem to come from two different places in my brain and it took me a while to get the hang of it.

Being a touch typist meant that I at least had proficiency on a keyboard, not 'hunt and peck', but I still found myself floundering with the new way of setting my thoughts down.

And then I discovered the ease of editing and I was off to the races!

Internet chat groups were good for me to set my flow of thoughts about the process of weaving down and eventually led to my writing more magazine articles.  Plus my teacher handouts.  Plus my letters until email became a thing.  (Yes, I'm that old.)

In 2008 I started this blog.  It has served as diary, where I process what I'm dealing with in my life.  It has served as a platform for me to express my opinions (and boy, howdy, do I have opinions!).  It has been a way to communicate with others, receive and - hopefully - proffer support.

Because as human beings, we all go through challenging times.  We all go through things that are difficult.  We all grow - if we decide to open ourselves up to doing so.

Through the opportunity of this blog I have shared - probably Too Much Information at times - and you have responded with love and encouragement.

The conference is just another challenge.  It is a complex event that requires much checking, checking, tweaking and checking again.

And so I have been venting - as I do - because that is how I process working through complex projects.

I want to make clear that I am most certainly NOT doing this alone.  It's just that you are only hearing my part of the story.  The rest of the committee don't blog and don't complain.  They just dig in and do stuff.

But I need to complain and vent so that I don't hyper-focus on stuff.

So y'all might want to scroll past my blog posts for the next few days.  Because I sense more whinging so that I can let go of the compulsive/obsessive squirrel raving thoughts.

And now Birthe's husband is here with the trailer and he is helping Doug carry the Baby Wolf up from the studio and into the trailer, which will be left parked in our driveway so that the rest of the stuff can be loaded up, then delivered to the venues on Tuesday afternoon.  Of course that means I still have to finish dressing that loom, then sift through MY seminar stuff so that it CAN be loaded.

We got this.  I just need to vent a little stress from time to time.

ps - if it weren't for the rest of the committee and their positive attitudes and willingness to shoulder big loads, the conference would not be happening.  These women are beacons of positivity and strength of character.  I count myself lucky to know them and have them pitch in so willingly.  I am just one cog in the wheel of this event - just a more vocal one!!!!