I have a friend in Wisconsin who recently discovered
her great love and talent for knitting. She’s made some amazing things this winter! I adore this picture of the smile on her face coupled with the display of her fabulous craftsmanship. Chris has found something special – a way to express her strong attention to detail, perseverance and love for her family.
There was a time I thought I would find those things in knitting, too.
Eight years ago when we lived in Wisconsin I was pregnant with our first child and exploring what it looks like to be a homemaker. My friends were particularly adept at the art of homemaking. I was inspired by their passion and ability to garden, cook, sew and…knit. I didn’t have much interest in these skills until the reality of motherhood began to hit me. As my baby bump grew I felt an increasing desire to imitate my friends so I could create a similarly homey atmosphere for my little family.
I went to the store and purchased knitting needles and yarn. One of my friends taught me the simplest knot and started me off on my very first knitting project. It took a couple of weeks but I was excited to see the scarf grow from the labor of my hands. I finished and held my triumph before me, then realized…
one end was twelve inches long and the other end was six! I have no idea how I lost so many stitches! I looked at it and just started to laugh. My knitting project was quite similar to all my other projects requiring precision of hand: a hot mess! I made the instantaneous decision that I would never knit again.
My declaration was not made out of embarrassment or defeat, I simply accepted that I am not made to pay detailed attention to projects I do with my hands. It was an empowering, exciting moment. In minutes I was at my knitting mentor’s home, surrendering my needles and yarn.
And I never looked back.
My heart swells when I see friends in their game – doing their thing. I celebrate them, learn from them, benefit from them and am inspired by them. But…
I don’t need to be them.
Through trial and error I continuously explore what it means for me to be a homemaker. Now that I’m not nurturing tiny children, I’ve found that I can nurture a garden. I enjoy cooking healthy meals for my family. I write. I think. I have deep conversations. And I throw parties. When I focus on developing my strengths that are highlighted in these activities – rather than tying myself in knots knitting – I feel more alive.
This morning my friend and Strengths Coach Laurie Hock led our small group in discussion about our strengths (take the Clifton StrengthsFinder here). With her guidance we are all beginning to understand how things that have made us feel different, weird or wrong in the past may actually be our brightest and most unique contributions to the world. She offered this very important point: “You can’t be anything you want to be, but you can be more of who you are.”
Another friend, referring to her small stature, said “The idea that we can be anything we want to be is not true! I will never be a great basketball player (no matter how hard I work at it)!”
You can’t be anything you want to be, but you can be more of who you are.
I could have spent my entire pregnancy working on knitting a scarf with equal ends. But what interests and strengths of mine would I be neglecting to develop or offer as I trudge through the effort of becoming simply proficient at knitting? I ended up spending that time painting items for the nursery and reading.
Here’s the thing:
I could huff and puff on my weaknesses and end up with a nice bunch of party balloons but no energy left to party.
Or I could apply effort to developing my interests and strengths and find that the fire I ignite fills a hot air balloon that brings the party to the sky!
So here’s to you, my beautiful friend who knits up in the clouds!
I will meet you there with ideas and questions.
You will offer me warmth. I will offer you depth.
And together we will make a home for the world.
For more information about Strengths Coaching and Speaking, contact Laurie Hock through her website www.growingpoints.biz. She has helped me tremendously in the past few months as I’ve begun to step into my calling.
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your follow here (sign up for email updates on the side or bottom of your screen) and on Facebook (Andrea Joy Wenburg). If you find this post helpful or inspiring, I’d love it if you’d share it with your friends!
What are your interests and strengths? Are you willing to offer them?
Let’s meet in the clouds!
Click to Read this related post: Stretch Into Who You Are – like it’s your JOB!
Deeply,
Andrea Joy
Great job Andrea! It’s been lovely to see you finding more of who YOU are through your writing! Keep it up!
You rock, Chris. Seriously. Your photography, knitting and unique-to-you-mothering are inspiring to me. Thanks for letting me include you in this post!
Great job Andrea! It’s been lovely to see you finding more of who YOU are through your writing! Keep it up!
You rock, Chris. Seriously. Your photography, knitting and unique-to-you-mothering are inspiring to me. Thanks for letting me include you in this post!
Andrea! Lovely post. I am especially enthralled by your concluding poem – its such an intricate way to articulate your strengths journey! Others offer you warmth, you offer them depth – indeed you do and you naturally do it with excellence. When both sides do what they do best (and we do need both), everyone wins! Cheers for being you and for empowering your followers to be more of who they are! The world needs what each of us uniquely brings!
YOU offer unwavering support, lazor-focus and clarity…amongst other things. I am so grateful for our opportunities to meet in the clouds with the fire ignited in each of us!
Andrea! Lovely post. I am especially enthralled by your concluding poem – its such an intricate way to articulate your strengths journey! Others offer you warmth, you offer them depth – indeed you do and you naturally do it with excellence. When both sides do what they do best (and we do need both), everyone wins! Cheers for being you and for empowering your followers to be more of who they are! The world needs what each of us uniquely brings!
YOU offer unwavering support, lazor-focus and clarity…amongst other things. I am so grateful for our opportunities to meet in the clouds with the fire ignited in each of us!
Thank you for this beautiful, insightful post. I struggle with comparing myself to others, always worrying that if I’m not keeping up with others’ achievements, I must be lazy. It’s so reassuring to be reminded that there’s nothing wrong with me if I don’t excel in the same ways that others do. I have heard it said (and have believed) that observing what we admire in others is one way we can get hints of areas in which God is inviting us to grow, to invest in our own development. I think I’ve taken that too literally, however, and have struggled with trying to copy others and then worrying and feeling bad when I can’t copy them in a proficient, fulfilling way! In your post, you described coming to understand that your initial admiration of your friend’s knitting abilities was less about a budding passion for knitting and more about an deep desire to create a cozy home for your family. I am grateful for the way this helped me better understand what to do with my observations of my admiration for others: I can still understand those observations as containing loving divine whispers, but I can use them as clues to understanding my deepest desires, not as direct pronouncements for things to add to my to-do list. Freedom. Grace. Ahhhh….
BIG hugs, Kili! I am so excited for you to be more of you – and not someone else. Because YOU are so much!
Thank you for this beautiful, insightful post. I struggle with comparing myself to others, always worrying that if I’m not keeping up with others’ achievements, I must be lazy. It’s so reassuring to be reminded that there’s nothing wrong with me if I don’t excel in the same ways that others do. I have heard it said (and have believed) that observing what we admire in others is one way we can get hints of areas in which God is inviting us to grow, to invest in our own development. I think I’ve taken that too literally, however, and have struggled with trying to copy others and then worrying and feeling bad when I can’t copy them in a proficient, fulfilling way! In your post, you described coming to understand that your initial admiration of your friend’s knitting abilities was less about a budding passion for knitting and more about an deep desire to create a cozy home for your family. I am grateful for the way this helped me better understand what to do with my observations of my admiration for others: I can still understand those observations as containing loving divine whispers, but I can use them as clues to understanding my deepest desires, not as direct pronouncements for things to add to my to-do list. Freedom. Grace. Ahhhh….
BIG hugs, Kili! I am so excited for you to be more of you – and not someone else. Because YOU are so much!
Thank you for this beautiful, insightful post. I struggle with comparing myself to others, always worrying that if I’m not keeping up with others’ achievements, I must be lazy. It’s so reassuring to be reminded that there’s nothing wrong with me if I don’t excel in the same ways that others do. I have heard it said (and have believed) that observing what we admire in others is one way we can get hints of areas in which God is inviting us to grow, to invest in our own development. I think I’ve taken that too literally, however, and have struggled with trying to copy others and then worrying and feeling bad when I can’t copy them in a proficient, fulfilling way! In your post, you described coming to understand that your initial admiration of your friend’s knitting abilities was less about a budding passion for knitting and more about an deep desire to create a cozy home for your family. I am grateful for the way this helped me better understand what to do with my observations of my admiration for others: I can still understand those observations as containing loving divine whispers, but I can use them as clues to understanding my deepest desires, not as direct pronouncements for things to add to my to-do list. Freedom. Grace. Ahhhh….
BIG hugs, Kili! I am so excited for you to be more of you – and not someone else. Because YOU are so much!