Perspective

I talk a lot about perspective on the blog...perhaps I need to put a label over there and put them all together and maybe write a book about perspective one day.  It's one of those topics that I think has lots and lots of ways of looking at it (ha!).

One of the reasons (I remembered this once I got back at it) that I love working needlepoint and cross stitch projects is because I can have such a close view of different pieces of the project.  Then when you get to step back and see the whole thing...wow.  I remember as a kid working these particularly sweet projects by Precious Moments and loving the eyes, the mouths and the general faces of the projects.  I worked on a "strawberry girl" for Elizabeth a long time ago and I remember being very fascinated with the gingham print of the dress (especially as it was 4 colors and I loved how they interacted and how the "folds" of the dress were displayed as an interruption in the pattern.  How interesting.

The really cool thing about working a projects, any project actually, is that as you focus on the tiny details, the big picture sometimes gets lost...and it's like a big "reveal" when you're done and you get to see the whole thing.  It's also awesome because as someone who crafts, you can look at other people's work, notice the big picture first, and then dig into the details.  While you may not see the details in quite the same way they did, you get to see them nonetheless.

And I'm always amazed that I "made" whatever it is that I'm looking at.  I always think "I never saw it that way" until I see it that way.  It's pretty awesome, that.  I love it that my work becomes better when it gets out of my hands and into the hands of others, or on a bed, or on a wall...

Life is like that, too, don't you think?  Big picture things are often really really hard to come by.  We get bogged down in the daily-ness of life and forget to look at the big things, the overarching themes, the general-ness that's going on around us.  And just like in crafting, every now and then we get the big a-ha moment and say "wow"...that's pretty awesome.

I've hit some big turning points in my life lately--with my father's passing, and the upcoming move of my daughters not to mention the whole work situation--And what's getting me through it is that knowing life, like in crafting, has perspective and while things may seem difficult in the details right now, the big picture will be awesome when I have a chance to step back and look at it...just must find that vantage point and the time to slow down and appreciate it.

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I think I need to go to Switzerland, don't you?

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Daddy's story:  When I was little I would ride around with my daddy whenever I could.  I love snuggling up next to him in the cab of the truck (this was before the days of required car seats for tots and seat belts for everyone else).  I would sing songs from the radio and tell him stories and we would have a grand old time.  When we were driving through town my daddy would invariable ask if I wanted to "drive by Dairy Queen" and I would get so excited and say "yes yes, let's drive by Dairy Queen"...I was going to get a Dilly Bar or a dipped cone and I could taste it and could even feel my tummy start to get hungry...then we would do just that...drive right on by.  Not stopping, not turning in, not going to...not going through the drive through...just driving by.  OH how it got me every.single.time.