I am so very sorry I finished this book! I imbibed it slowly and deliciously, since it has been so refreshing! A couple weeks ago, I found some yarn at Joanns sitting on the shelf saying, "Hi - we're making you an offer you can't refuse!" I had moved on to other crafts because our local knitting store had closed in the early 90s, but I bought the yarn, and am enjoying knitting it so much that I browsed knitting books on Amazon, finding this one. Honestly, I bought it for the price - but it would have been worth it at magnitudes more thon what I paid. It has brought me such joy in reading it. It can apply to any craft, not just knitting. It's helped me understand why I need something in my hands in order for my mind to connect properly. That need has gotten me into trouble with clergy and professors for decades because until reading this book, I was at a loss for words - now I have them! To understand that it is a need, not a wish, driving me to sit and create, when I am in a holding pattern, frees me up to give myself permission to make sure I always have knitting, crocheting, embroidery, or other craft materials with me when I must sit. I now understand why, when I listen to a sermon or college lecture, I do better recording it and handworking through it than trying to take copious notes - and now I can explain it to the professor or clergy instead of mutely taking the chastisement of either for "disrespecting" him or her. In fact, I am gifting a copy of the book to my latest pastor, because I really think he is open enough to the concept that he will enjoy it. I also loved Bernardette's description of how she got through the World Trade Center disaster by first giving herself just time to sit and cry, and later to knit and cry. It closely paralleled my own experience at the time, and neither of us ended up with bitterness or an "us-them" mentality against the countries the terrorists sprang from, but rather a deep sadness that hateful individuals from any country would take such action and that other people from both nations would be left with such animosity. She realized - as did I - that being able to sit with and process our deep feelings was what made the difference between ourselves and the majority people who did not have that time, and who ended up hating the nations who gave birth to the terrorists. Granted, we both had lifestyles which gave us time to sit with our feelings, but our knitting also gave our hands something to do while we processed them. Yes, that was when I was knitting, before the local shop closed and I moved on to other crafts temporarily, but I know now that knitting will always be in my future "stable" of crafts. It is just too easy and enjoyable - and satisfying - not to keep it close for the rest of my life. And I know I will return to _Zen and the Art of Knitting_whenever I need a mental lift. It will be one of those mind-airing-out books I go to for a refresher.
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