OK, this post is so totally not what you're thinking, because, I totally know what you're thinking. Stop thinking that. Really. Just stop. ;)
What I'm talking about is an amazing quote from Brian Eno that can be heard on the Daniel Lanois album
Here Is What Is. The quote is:
I remember buying a little Indian sort of chest of drawers once and I was so intrigued by it, and the color of it, and I thought, this, if I let it be, could be the beginning of a new life for me. If I followed the message of this little set of drawers, and built everything else around that, that would be a different life.
As batty as that quote sounds, I totally understand and relate to it. Not only are there objects that inspire and strike a chord with you, but there are moments in your life that influence your direction much more than others. Those objects and moments can be arbitrary and random. Magical, even.
For me, one of those life-changing items is
my flower purse. I was able to use it a little
in April when it was warm, but after that brief sunny spell, it's been raining almost every day, and now, pulling the flower purse back out, I feel ... I don't know ... different. It's like the purse has an energy all it's own.
Just look at the grosgrain ribbon sunhat and adorable blanket stitched shoes it made me buy ...
Seriously, though ... I feel like the act of making this purse has altered the course of my life. Maybe subtly and in ways that are unmeasurable at this time, but I can feel it's importance in the larger scheme of things. This purse is a good thing.
I think the purse, the act of making the purse, is trying to reveal to me something about taking my time to do things right ... about choosing worthy goals ... about how when you're following the right path, it doesn't seem like a heinous amount of labor, even if it is ... about how, if you listen, the world will tell you things you need to hear ... about the satisfaction I get from doing something well ... about the restorative power of constructing something with my own two hands ... about how good it feels to have matching accessories.
Ha! I can't help but make jokes because I know how ridiculous it sounds to link life-changing epiphanies to a crocheted purse ...
... even if it's true ...
... and it is.