Tag Archives: Life

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Saith Me… Purpose and Joy

I have found “giving up” to be really hard work and terribly difficult to achieve. 

 I am not making light of the desire, just the opposite. The desire is often very intense, but giving up seems to simply be much harder than finding joy or purpose. When joy seems elusive, I look for purpose. Purpose usually leads me to joy. 

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Saith Me: Together

Whether we are a tortoise or a hare, the journey can be better if we travel together.

Simplistic, yes I know, but true in most cases when the parties are willing to embrace each other’s weaknesses as well as each other’s strengths.

Choosing our companions wisely is certainly key to success. Also key to success is recognizing our traveling companion today may not be our companion for the entire journey.

Seldom is the journey, or life, a smooth, straight path. Even when we know where we want to go, and have a map to guide us, we will encounter obstacles that may cause us to detour seeking an uncharted way to our destination.

Having trusted companions can help us navigate the detours; and if we should get lost, those companions will prevent us from feeling the despair of solitude.

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Something Quite Different

Today I did something a quite different. Not only do I share my age, my educational background, and a good deal of my upbringing, I also share my emotional response to the realities we face as a crafting community in light of constricting markets, borders, and liberties.

I did not get “political” even if some may think I did. I went historical, and I shared how my close connection with my grandparents has helped me through past difficulties, and how I hope it will help me through the ones we face now.

I also talk about Tour de Fleece at the end 😸

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Something New – The Pithy Dragon

All those years ago when I posted my first Pithy Ponderings, I could never have imagined I would still be intermittently sharing these blogs, let alone sharing videos and projects. Over the years, I have added Pithy History (a mostly retired section), Dust Bunnies and Daily Fiber, and Pithy Patchwork Projects to the topics I share. My fiber friends came to know me as Pioneerlady, Pioneerlady at Pithyponderings, and as Unwinding With Fiber and Fabrics. More recently some people over at NightCafe (an Ai art platform) have come to know me as @Unwinding. All of these changes reflect the changes in my life, and my growth. Sharing, whether through blog, vlog, or social media posts has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone. It takes much more confidence to share the things that bring me joy then it does to simply do the things that bring me joy.

Dabbling with Ai art was never something I expected to do. Fabrics and fibers are much more my kind of art, plus like many, I recognized the controversy of Ai “art”. You might say I fell down this rabbit hole much like Alice, very unaware of where it would lead.

I was simply searching for an image that would represent me in a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) game. Simple enough to find, I innocently thought. It turns out, wrinkly and plump, attractive and resilient, irreverent and whimsical females are underrepresented Table Top Roll Playing Games (TTRPG), or at least in the art that depicts the worlds of TTRPG.

Dissatisfied with what my searches produced, and woefully unable to afford to pay an artist to render one for me in a more traditional fashion, I turned to Ai.

Over these past months, I have developed a style and a persona. In D&D, I’m on my third avatar, each one a bit more representative of who I am. The final one developing out of a conversation I had with my son about a creative journey we are embarking upon, a journey I hope to share here in my blog.

The third image is the human form of an amethyst dragon. A dragon it seems that has been my secret identity all along.

I have been known by many names, and now I add one more to the list – The Pithy Dragon.

So many of the creative pursuits I now embrace as necessary to my wellbeing began out of the desire to support my children. The Ai and D&D rabbit hole that has dominated my life these past few months is another example of this pattern. With time, (and with events outside my control wrapping up) I will find balance once again, but for now I will frolic in a new wonderland of purple dragons, brave heroes, and epic quests.

If fortune favors me, I will have content to share in the upcoming weeks. For now, I will be sharing images on Instagram, but it is my hope to have other content to share or link to as I continue on this journey.

Oh, and I will certainly continue to share all my other content as the mood strikes me. After all, the fiber and fabric, the pithy thoughts, and the joys of life will still need to be shared.

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A Message to My Followers

Will the words fail me? Will the joy fade away? Or will I once again find a path forward?

Despite today being the anniversary of one of the happiest days of my mother’s heart, I awoke with a dread similar to one I have had before. Only this time the dread was deeper and more weighty. It is one thing for the hopeful to follow the path to sorrow when the path is shrouded and obscured. Yet, when the light shines brightly on the path, illuminating the danger signs in glaring clarity, it is a dreaded thing to witness.

I seek joy through creative pursuits, and I seek to share that joy with others. It is my hope that in some small way I can inspire others to seek their own joy.

In my efforts, whether through blog or vlog, I try my best to focus on the universal language of joy. Today, in the light of so much chaos, I finally feel the unshakable need to be clear about something I believe many (or at least those closely following) will have discerned. I use the word joy with great understanding that it is a word intertwined Christ.

I use it as a synonym for Christ, and for love, and for grace.

I view it as an eternal condition – this joy of which I speak, and I see it as being a common language.

I believe it is a condition and a language that supersedes the religions of man. For all of mankind can experience it, and seek it, and receive it regardless of the customs they follow.

I use JOY for this very reason – it bridges the gaps of culture. For while I connect it to Christ, others need not do so if that is their choice. It doesn’t change the eternal and universal nature of it.

Sorrow has gripped me, has made my heart weep, but I will cling to my quest for joy – and in doing so, I will hopefully be able to continue to have something to blog and vlog about.

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A November 2024 Thought

Pilate gave the people the opportunity to set Jesus free – the prophesized savior, a man who taught love.

Yet when given the choice, they instead chose a traitor, one imprisoned for sedition and murder. They chose to condemn unto death the very hope they had been taught to seek, and instead they chose another. (Luke 23)

History shows us, time-and-time again, that people will choose unwisely. Choosing a path of love, charity, and kindness takes work. It also can require us to do what the wealthy young man could not do – follow Christ. (Mathew 19:21-22).

When faced with a choice, people will more often than not choose a snake-oil cure rather than a path to real health.