I have been pondering this post for a while now. I completely understand if this is a topic that does not interest you. Otherwise, thank you for taking the time to read.
Robin Williams recent death has affected me in ways I would never have anticipated. Typically, while I love the gossips mags as much as the next girl, celebrity deaths are simply a sad passing. But Mr. Williams death has stayed with me this week as I work, on my drive home, when I read to my kids in bed, and as I sit at my sewing table with the quiet hum of my sewing machine. Perhaps it is because, as a child of the 80s, Robin Williams was seemingly everywhere. I grew up watching reruns of Mork & Mindy. I fell in love with mystery and adventure while watching Hook. Jack and Patch Adams impressed upon my young soul the value of laughter and unfailing generosity and compassion.
The movie What Dreams May Come first hit theaters as I entered my senior year of high school. In the previous 6 months, I had my first experiences with death as a schoolmate died tragically in a car accident and a close friend's mother committed suicide. This movie would forever color my perspectives on death, heaven and hell, providing striking visuals to accompany my traditional Catholic upbringing. If you have not yet seen the movie, it touches upon some of the darkest themes and personal struggles many individuals and families face with the warmth that only Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding, Jr. could provide to such grave subjects.
Three years ago, a close friend and coworker of my husband's committed suicide and it was heart-wrenching. Much like Mr. Williams, he was the life of the party, everyone's best friend, and the funniest guy in the room, and he also suffered from depression that overwhelmed him.
Why do I tell you all of this?
Because these events remind me that as I struggle with my own mental health, that I have an outlet that helps me each time I come to it and I have this wonderful community to thank for it. Quilting has given me a place to be creative when my accounting brain and sensibility thought it couldn't be creative. The hum of the sewing machine is the peace that my heart longs for after the chaos of life with 3 kids under the age of 5 and a full-time day job.
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| GenX 2014 BOM January |
On any given day I can choose to work with bold, vibrant colors or perhaps something more subdued. I can choose to work on a pattern where my mind can rest and simply follow directions, or I can choose to follow my own direction and piece together as the fabric speaks to me.
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| Making a plan |
So I want to say thank you to each of you for supporting me by reading, by visiting, by commenting here on my blog, but also providing me a community where my work is safe and valued and for the inspiration that each of you provide to me.
