Why Do I Keep Yarn at my Desk?

I’m so glad you asked

Some people who have worked with me will spy my desk and give me a funny look or ask “Why do you keep yarn on your desk?” and the answer is very simple.  It’s not because I like to procrastinate.  It’s not because I’m that obsessed with knitting, although my boyfriend might tel you that I am.  It’s because, when I hit a mental block, doing something that allows my active or conscious mind to take a break, allows my subconscious mind to keep working on what ever it is that is causing the mental or creative block.

Mental and creative blocks happen – its an infuriating little fact of life.  But that doesn’t mean that you have to continuously suffer or bang your head against them until you stubbornly break through.  There is hope.  There is an easier way.  My friends, I’m going to audaciously tell you that the solution exists right here in this blog post…even if you do not knit (yet). You have an incredible power within you.  Some consider it sacred, others consider it magical, but the modern, analytical world calls it our subconscious as they devote many hours and dollars toward trying to understand this invisible force inside our minds.

What am I talking about? 

The subconscious mind is a tireless worker.  Not seeking recognition, it plods on and chips away at problems that we experience in our lives.  This happens whether we recognize it or not.  Think about your dreams for a moment.  We recognize that our dreams are our minds way of working through things that we face in our day – so why can’t out brains continue to do this work during the day.  Your dreams, are the work of your subconscious mind.  Dreams are vivid and imaginative because the active mind is turned off allowing the subconscious mind to flourish.  In these dreams our subconscious mind is working through thoughts, emotions, challenges, and sometimes its just playing.

The Day Shift

Your subconscious isn’t nocturnal.  Whether we are able to tap into it during the day to see what it’s doing or not – it is there, working the day shift.  I promise you this.  when you acknowledge its presence and it’s abilities you can begin to harness it.  Learning to trust it o or tap into it might take a little work, as for many of us, this is something completely new.  If you’re of my generation think of what it was like trying to teach a parent something new like using a smart phone. And be patient with yourself.  You don’t just sit down and meditate for an hour the first time you try it.  Its uncomfortable.  Your mind won’t stop thinking.

There it is – your mind won’t stop thinking. 

Taping into the subconscious mind is so much more passive than it sounds.  To do it, do something mindless.  I promise you it’s the reason adult coloring books are becoming so darn popular.  People are realizing that taking time to do something mindless, to give our active minds a break, allows the subconscious mind to work freely during the day.  And when it does, amazing things happen.

Whatever your hobby of choice is – coloring, sketching or doodling, journaling, listening to music with your eyes closed, taking a walk, hopping into the shower if you work from home…any one of these things can help you to turn off the active mind.  Once the active mind slows and relaxes, then you will subtly start to notice the subconscious mind become more active.  That mental or creative block that you had will lift and just like that, you’ll be able to get back to work with renewed energy.  A question that you’ve been searching for the answer to will suddenly become a lot easier to answer. I could go on and on.

I keep yarn, or more accurately my latest knitting project at my desk because its an activity that helps me to easily turn off my active mind and to give it a break while making room for my subconscious mind to work and play.  Knitting…unless I’m paying attention to an intense pattern…is my minds playground.  It’s something that I don’t really need to think about beyond counting stitches. Its relaxing, and gives me that boost that I need to quickly get back to work and tackle that next project.  I donate a lot of my knitting through my charity Fibers for Fido so it’s a very powerful hobby for me.

Try it for yourself and let me know how it goes!