Cheaper than Therapy

There is a book that I want to read. It’s called “Cheaper than Therapy: Joy, Healing, and Life Lessons in Fiber” by Annie Modesitt. I want to read it, but I have class books to read first. I now have a stack of books that I want to read as soon as my schooling is done, but that’s a year away and the books they are a-stacking. This particular book teaches us that knitting, crocheting, and other yarn/fabric/needlework is good for our heads. It’s good for our hearts too.

I find myself pacing the house looking for something to do in the evening. I can’t read anymore, my eyes are tired, my soul is tired, but I’m too antsy to sit and watch TV. So I try to watch TV, but at almost every advertisement I get up to wash the dishes or fold laundry or clean a spot on the floor or write a shopping list…

In years past I have learned may hobbies to help me unwind: crocheting, card games, crossword puzzles, needlepoint and cross stitch, stained glass windows, Tae Quan Do, motorcycle riding, painting, among other things. They keep me sane, especially in the winter time. I learned how to knit last summer and now I can sit through a whole hour of CSI while knitting a scarf and matching hat for my favorite waitress, or while knitting a teddy bear for my co-worker who is due in a month. I am then calm by the end of the night, and I have a feeling of accomplishment.

I have always believed that hobbies are an important part of everyone’s life. I never trust somebody who tells me they don’t have any hobbies. Watching TV is not a hobby. Raising children (or raising husbands) is not a hobby. Drinking is not a hobby. A hobby is something that puts you into a different part of your head than you are usually in at work. If you’re a contractor you shouldn’t have woodworking as a hobby. If you’re a mother of teenagers then Soccer shouldn’t be your hobby.

And the best hobbies, in my not so humble opinion, are those that allow you to create something; have something to show when you’re done. Playing cards, gaming, and crossword puzzles don’t give you anything to hang on the wall or give as Christmas gifts when you’re done. Hopefully they do get you interacting with other people, which is good, but all you have to show for yourself at the end of the day is that you’re a winner (or a loser).

And not all hobbies are expensive. It can take less than $10 to start knitting:
Skein of Red Heart Yarn: $1.99
Pair of nice bamboo #8 needles: $4.50
Having the old lady in the yarn department of your local Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or small town yarn store show you how to cast on: Priceless.

Are you cooked yet?

Three university students on the way to a civil service examination stopped to buy refreshments from an old woman who sold pastries. One scholar was calm and quiet while the other two argued over literature. The woman asked where they were going, and the latter two told her. “You two won’t pass the exam,” she said, “but the other man will.”

The results turned out just as the old woman predicted, and the two who failed went back to find the woman and ask her if she knew some mystic art to predict the outcome. “No,” she said, “all I know is that when a pastry is thoroughly cooked it sits there quietly, but before it’s finished it keeps making noise.”