Tonight, I left work early and headed to the middle bonus daughter's school. It was her last middle school orchestra concert and the only one I've managed to attend this school year. Work has slowed down enough that I was able to sneak out early. Husband wasn't able to attend at all, so I had the job of recording it for him to enjoy later.
I really wanted to duck out after the orchestra finished playing. Sadly, it wasn't that simple. The last piece of the program featured the choir and the orchestra. This meant I had to suffer through nearly 30 minutes of choir music. I packed up the camera so I wouldn't drop it and I pulled out my knitting. Since I had arrived early, my knitting bag came in so I would have something to do that wasn't staring at my smartphone*. I pulled out my current sock project to work on the ankle.
My travel project hasn't been getting a lot of attention lately. If my hands aren't too full, I'll knit as I walk from my car to my office and back but that only adds a couple of rows each day. When there is an event at work, I can usually sit there and knit once the tricky parts are done. This was a great chance to work on it.
As I was knitting, and thinking that I might be considered rude for doing so, I started to think about all of the things that knitting does for me.
Knitting gives me a sense of calm
I have depression and some anxiety issues. In the time that I've been knitting, I've noticed that I'm much calmer if I've been knitting. There have been a few times when I've been too much of a mess to knit but if I'm knitting before that point, I usually don't reach it. This past fall, I had some blood drawn for some basic health stuff. I have such a strong reaction to my fear of needles, that I nearly pass out. This time? I sat there, chattering away and petting my yarn and I didn't go light-headed in the least.
Knitting helps me not fidget
I work in a concert hall. I hear a lot of good music. I hear a lot of bad music. No matter the quality of the music, I still can fidget, though it gets greater the more painful the music. Having knitting on hand, helps me fidget far less. My hands are busy and my brain can either shut up, so I can enjoy the music, or become very focused, so I don't hear it.
Knitting helps me feel accomplished
Working in theatre, especially with lighting, means that most of my creative exercises are short lived. Photos and video never really do lighting justice as being in the space, especially when it's tied to music. It's nice to create something and have an object to show for it.
So maybe I was rude to sit there and knit during the choir section (it was painful for many reasons) but I don't care. Better to knit and have something to show for instead of just turning on my smartphone and staring at it while the choir sang.
*I feel less dumb after knitting than I usually do after being on my smartphone. I'm trying to use it less and less as a method of distraction while out in public.
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