President’s Message, April 2008 – Sharpen the Saw!

It is an overcast Saturday morning as I write this note.  Running through my head are all the things I WANT to do this weekend, such as spinning more yarn for my sweater project, finishing the knitted shoulder shawl that I’m working on for Daughter #1, unpacking a box of 50+ skeins of sock yarn which, of course, means finding a place to put them.  Although my yarn storage area is relatively neat, it is also relatively full.  I am about to have to resort to my friend Peggy’s guest-bathroom-bathtub idea.  And that’s just for the sock yarn! Nevermind the weaving yarns and the bags of fiber wanting to be spun into something luscious!

Then there’s what I NEED to do this weekend, the things that are deadline oriented: write this note to you, wash the ever-present-laundry, unpack boxes of things we sent home to ourselves from our spring break vacation (Sunburned in Sarasota: Read all about it http://fancyfibers.wordpress.com), putting together the program for our Guild show, going to visit my Mom (that one counts in the WANT to do category also), yada yada ya.  How to work it all in to just two short days??
My husband says that I have to schedule time for my fiber fun at home just as I schedule time for fiber-related events away from home.  He has a vested interest in my taking time to play in my fiber this weekend; he says I get just too crabby to be around if I don’t.  Steven Covey calls it Sharpening the Saw, something many of us do too infrequently because we’re too busy sawing! 

Paraphrasing Covey’s Habit 7 (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), there are Four Dimensions of Self-Renewal that need to be exercised regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.  We must be proactive in accomplishing this.  No one can do it for us; we must do it for ourselves until it becomes a kind of healthy addiction.

To me, spinning, knitting, weaving, all the things I do with fiber, fall into the Spiritual Dimension.  Covey describes this as your core, your center. It draws upon the sources that inspire and uplift you and tie you to the timeless truths of all humanity.  When you are able to escape the noise and discord of life and give yourself up to harmony and rhythm, you come back renewed.
With that, I’m off to get a few things done until 1:00 pm.  At that time, I have an appointment with my fiber.  I hope you will follow my lead and make an appointment with yourself to renew your Spiritual Dimension and play with your fiber!

One closing note:  THANK YOU to the many people who stepped up to serve the Guild as Officers and Committee Chairs in the coming year.  You ARE appreciated!  ~Mary