Discovery

Yesterday's spectacular explosion of knitterly accomplishments was great, however that sort of thing does have a downside. It's wonderful while it lasts, but the day after is always something of a let down. No one has the energy to maintain that level of excitement forever. I happen to have an even lower tolerance for high spirits, being as I am such a fragile flower and all. Today, I was simply spent.

Lord knows I tried to keep up the momentum, but it was no use. I just didn't have it in me. Worse, I found myself succumbing to the lull of the raindrops outside and the numbing effects of the fog pressing against the windows. I was utterly incapable of doing much besides sucking on a Mountain Dew, knitting half-heartedly on another dishcloth and allowing The Discovery Channel to suck me into hours of viewing. Even the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty, normally one for sitting at my feet and gazing at me adoringly, gave up and moved on to more interesting parts of the manse.

This could very well have felt like an utterly wasted day. There were one or two things I would have liked to have accomplished, after all. Changing out of the sweatpants in which I slept might have been one of those things, but who knows anymore? My head is all fuzzy. I probably should be feeling like the biggest waste of space on the planet.

I don't see it that way. I like to think that every day has something to offer, even if it wasn't what you thought it might give up. I may not have done much, but I think I'm kind of lucky to be able to just sit and relax if that's what I feel like doing. I don't knit for a living and, to my knowledge, there are no current hostage situations requiring the payment of a billion dishcloths. The half-cloth I managed to muddle through is just fine. I found chocolates on sale yesterday at the local drug store, thus making the snacking situation tolerable and I happen to really love The Discovery Channel.

I choose to see the day in terms of what it gave me and enjoy it for what it is.

Yesterday, I think that many of us had a moment where we found cause to despair over the state of our knit blogging community. This happy, woolly world we'd created for ourselves wasn't giving back what we wanted, what we expected or thought we deserved. It became a darker place and one that brought forth our more defensive instincts. Depending on our individual personalities, it made us sad, it made us mad, it made us want to take up arms, it made us want to lie down and just give up.

On the other hand, we had an opportunity to see the best of who we are. We saw integrity, responsibility, honesty and maybe learned a little bit about the courage it takes to walk the high road. We learned that principles can only be called such when they are brought forth in times of hardship rather than trotted out under only the sunniest of skies. We were able to see examples of how most people are really pretty darned decent, even when operating in a system that allows us to be anonymous and to act without consequence.

The simple fact is this: putting good things out into the universe does not mean you will always get good things back. It should work that way. But it doesn't. Sometimes the universe feels the need to leave a flaming bag of poop on your doorstep and doesn't much care that this is a kind of heartless thing to do. However, this doesn't mean that you stop trying to fill your space with the best you can put out there. Because in those times when the universe is being completely unreasonable, it is all that good stuff you sent forward that comes back to give you the strength you need to stand against it all.

It's hokey, it's not a soapbox upon which I will spend a great deal of time and it's truth as I see it. And I figured it all out watching The Discovery Channel.

SA