When I was eleven years old, I attempted to learn how to knit. Purl one, knit two. Click, click, click went my size 9 needles. My first project was a simple square hot pad. It ended up being a trapezoid. My next project was a pair of slippers. I couldn’t decide which slipper I was the most proud of – the size 6 slipper or the one that was size 9. After this experience, I cast off knitting.
For the last several days, I have been thinking about some things that I would like to knit here into a cozy afghan of a posting. I hope that I won’t end up with odd matching slippers of thought.
Slip knit a stitch
Earlier this summer, I wore my red dress suit to work. I love that suit even though it is six years old. I tell myself it is still stylish. The coeds on campus where I work might think otherwise, but I don’t care.
That day, deep in thought and looking at the sidewalk, I headed to a meeting. I wasn’t paying attention to passers-by. For no reason, I glanced up. A thirty-something professor (such a young pup he was), smiled at me and said, “Pretty outfit. You look nice.”
“Thanks.” I smiled back. I felt good inside. For the rest of the day, his comment sent out warm fuzzies to my soul.
Work in 2 garter stitches
I recently saw a video called “Validation.” It brought a chuckle to my lips while serving up a powerful message. I remembered back to the fellow who commented on my dress suit and how nice I felt because of his comment. I vowed to find instances where I could validate others.
Fast forward to yesterday morning on the bus. (Dear reader, you are probably thinking at this moment in time that I sure do write a lot about the bus. But, hey! That’s a big part of my day and it is good fodder for stuff to write about.) A very pretty girl was sitting on the bench in front of me. As the bus rolled to a stop and we were about to get off, I tapped this girl on the shoulder and told her I thought she was beautiful. She glowed.
Throughout the day, I glowed. I felt warm inside because I had given this girl a compliment. Not in a proud pat-myself-on-the-back sort of way. More like feel-good-from-serving-others kind of a feeling.
I decided that the feeling on the giving end of the compliment was much better than on the receiving end.
Binding off
There is a girl that rides the bus that I call Ms. Stone Face. (Wait! Don’t run away just because I’m mentioning the bus again. If you promise to keep reading, I promise I won’t write about the bus for a whole month. Well, for two weeks. A day maybe???)
Back to Ms. Stone Face. For the past 10 months since she started riding the bus, I haven’t seen any expression flicker across her face. Not a shimmer of a smile. Not a smidgeon of sadness. Not even a nanosecond of disgust because she has to move her backpack to allow fellow passengers to sit by her. A sterile, white, blank hospital wall has more facial expressions than Ms. Stone Face.
I think Ms. Stone Face must be the sister of the girl in the Validation video clip. It might be a tough assignment but I’ve decided to take up the gauntlet to get Ms. Stone Face to crack a smile.
The completed afghan
I hope I haven’t dropped any stitches or pulled them too tight in places or made them too loose in others. I hope my zigzag pattern of thought is colorfully smooth and that you’ll be motivated to create a stitch of validation in your own afghan of life.
Now to the video, “Validation.” Please watch it. (It lasts 16 minutes and is VERY well done.)
