Embroidery Meditation

There is something immensely calming in the embroidery process. Needle in hand and head bent over the hoop, I forget about everything else. My entire attention focuses on the thread, the tension in the thread, the needle and where it should come through the cloth. You have to pay attention. Else, you will prick your own finger. I have pricked my finger so many times. The process trains focus with pain and blood.

Once the focus develops, my cares fall away and I sit in a bubble of light, drawing thread through cloth sedately. You cannot go too fast because then, you introduce too much tension into the thread. When that happens, your cloth will pucker. You can see that I am quite a lousy embroiderer from the way my cloth has puckered. I get better with practice. It still is a lovely looking piece (no thanks to my skills) because the colours are bright and cheerful against the white cloth. Also, I deliberately chose a very forgiving design that does not require precision. The petals of the flowers are haphazardly shaped and sized. The flowers twist and bow in every direction. So, my poor abilities in thread control and precision seem to be advantageous. The flowers look very lively and wild.

One needs a lot of light to embroider with. My favourite spots are right next to the window, or under the lamp next to my bed. Seated in that bubble of light, I exist in an oasis of meditative calm. When I come out of my bubble of light, I feel refreshed and energised.