Full Circle Crafting
Have you ever found yourself coming full circle - back to a life that you thought for sure you’d left behind?
It could be a job, a relationship, a location, or even a way of thinking - sometimes all of the above. And it makes you question whether you had ever really shut that door. Maybe - just maybe - you’d given it more of a shove than a game-over slam. And maybe - just maybe - that was intentional.
And so you’re back in a space that’s eerily familiar, with déjà vu running rampant.
But it’s not the same. It can never really be the same, can it, because YOU’ve changed. And New You is older and wiser… more experienced and, often, more authentic.
Think of all the books, songs, shows and poetry extolling love “the second time around”. There might just be something to this coming full circle concept.
I’m experiencing this life loop now - marveling over how I wound up back in the thick of business with escalating enthusiasm, a fresh frame of mind, and unbridled aspirations. Real autonomy and real responsibility. It’s as exhilarating as it is surreal. I didn’t expect to revisit the path that gave me battle scars. I didn’t think I was brave enough.
But I am.
Crafting can take you full circle, too.
Think about a project that you completed (or didn’t!) that elicited a “yeah… not doing THAT again.”
How firmly did you close that door? If it isn’t cemented shut, there might be more you want to do in that space. More you NEED to do. A lesson still to learn. Or a technique to finally master.
There’s a time and place for “try-again”s. And in crafting, the associated risks are relatively minor - time spent, ego bruised, nothing you can’t recover from.
The reward? Self confidence. Skill development. New perspectives. And a chance to capitalize on previous time and effort.
I could personally take another swing at locker hooking, which is something akin to rug hooking with a crochet implement (more on that in blogs to come). My one and only locker hooking experience involved me misunderstanding both the directions and the pattern, and fudging my project to mediocrity.
What would happen, though, if I gave it another go - only this time getting vested in my own design, and using my previous mistakes as a launching pad to better results?
How we approach our second-go-round plays a big role in the value we’ll get from it. Curiosity. Humor. And without judgement. You’re not a victim of the experience, and you’re also not it’s competitor.
You’re simply looking to see if there’s something there that you missed before. Just like in life.
It doesn’t have to be scary. And I’ll tell you right now, you are brave enough.
Happy crafting, my friends.
