Mind over Matter....Written Ramblings from last Month

My Mental Faculties and Knitting (I wrote this rambling last month after returning from vacation) :)

Why didn’t anyone tell me that I’d be losing my marbles at such a young age? Is this a normal part of motherhood? Change of Life? Peri-menopause? My ADD tendencies? Early onset of some form of dementia? Alzheimers? (No pun intended...because I do tend to worry about my increasing lack of memory, fragmented thoughts, word associations, calling everything a “thingy” when I can’t think of it’s name, etc...) Science tells us to sleep well, eat nutritiously, and to exercise our bodies and minds. Hmm...I sleep approx 6-7 hours a night, waking up at 5:20 (I love the mornings, eat fairly OK since the gastric bypass 5 years ago, and etc. A bit anemic, but I take care of that as well. My spiritual life keeps me “sane” and grateful for what the Lord has done for me and for saving my soul. I am profoundly thankful for my family, and grateful for my friends. Next...exercising the mind.
Exercising the mind. Hmm. Experts say to learn new skills, play an instrument, read, do crosswords, Sudoku, and such. For me...I knit. Knitting with a new (to me) and challenging technique that is a step beyond my current skills keeps me mentally alert and I love the adrenaline rush of figuring out a lace pattern, counting my stitches, double checking a charted pattern, and trying a new knitting skill. Slow and steady, I frog, frog, tink, tink, and re-knit until I get the “Eureka!” moment of a correct knitted project. I get an undescribable feeling of contentment and satisfaction of “conquering” a pattern...and yet the soothing feeling of Manos (or whatever) and the repetition of a familiar pattern fills me with a sort of hormonal or endorphin type of happiness. As my lone knitting friend Christine reminds me, “knitting is a legal choice of drug or therapy.” :) Happiness often results as I think of the recipient of the garment, and knit as much love into the garment as I can. I think I am a process knitter, with the patience for finished garments. Usually.
While on vacation last week, I was knitting with Zephyr laceweight on a popular tourist beach. I think my family was a bit annoyed, but I loved the sea breeze, the satisfaction of the knitting (while others read or slept and snored), and the fact that I have a beautiful lace scarf that’s ready to be given as a Christmas present. I even had hubby photograph me with my project at the water’s edge. Now that’s love!
I may end up losing my mental faculties at an early age, late in life, or not at all. I do enjoy knitting, and as long as I remember this and get the chance to continue knitting, I’m a happy camper. Keep the drugs and crosswords, I’ll stick with knitting.