Passion

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." (Seneca)

My journey in Canada is one of many changes and many new beginnings. Since our arrival in Canada less than 2 years ago, we are somehow the victims of our landlords' whims, which brought us to home no 3 a couple of weeks ago. Change in itself is a very challenging thing, but not only is this constant moving a very exhausting and expensive exercise, it almost always leave you with furniture and things that are suddenly not needed anymore, too big or too small for the new house, too high, too low...Every house is built for its own furniture.

Although moving can be fun and offers the opportunity to do things differently, the packing part still sucks. In my process I found a lot of things that we seldom if ever use, yet it traveled with us over continents and many moves. Surprisingly so when it came to the holy grail of my existence, my sewing room, the place of my happiness...which left me puzzled with this personal attachment to these somewhat "useless" things.

Why is it so difficult to let go of books, manuals, files and photo books that only gathered dust on the shelf because we hardly ever page it?
Do we really NEED all the rulers, tools, fabrics, pens, cutters, patterns, lace, ribbon, pins of all kinds, 5 measuring tapes...really? Five? We cannot cope with one measuring tape?
Do these things come with a special kind of memory or is it plain sentiment that keeps us from filing it in file 13 or pay it forward to another promising, unsuspecting hoarder?
Maybe we have a mindset of scarcity, where we fear that once we got rid of it, we might develop the need for that very same thing the very next day? (Trust that to happen!) OR
...Are we just a bunch of crazy sewing fanatics?

Well, it is not so hard to find the answer, as it is hidden in just one word...PASSION. The dictionary describes passion as:

"a strong and barely controllable emotion"

"an intense desire"

"an enthusiasm"

"a willingness to suffer for what you love" - Kevin Hall (my personal favorite)

"a way to live life to the fullest"

"to live from your heart"

How do you hear the sound of passion knocking at your door?

If you are willing to give up other activities to spend more time on the "thing" you love, you are passionate about it. (No, sorry, spending time in the pub does not qualify as that "thing". There is a difference between passion and addiction.) Take a good look at the topics of the books you regularly read, those you stash next to your bed on the side table. What are those about? Where, on what do you spend most of your pocket money? I'd rather spend time in my overcrowded sewing room between my too many "useless" things (only to the uninformed eye...) than doing anything else. I am willing to suffer in many other ways to live my passion for fabrics, sewing and quilting, to follow my heart and create that ever elusive masterpiece, to be between the stuff that fascinates me. Even the smell of fabrics fascinates me! Of course it always helps if you marry someone who has a passion of his own; he or she will completely understand your desire for your stuff and your gadgets, because they'll have plenty of their own too.

So, dearest quilter, when challenged by all your extras and your hamster habit, go out and buy another storage box or put up another shelf...just keep those things that feed your passion! It is worth it in the end. If you love what you are doing, you'll never "work" again, but your life will be one long holiday.