It is written that God created man in his own image.

But let’s look at God’s motives here…without man can God exist?

Yeh, yeh, I know…Yahweh is a BIG and rather problematic topic. But let me take it down a notch.

I believe that through the act of creating, we in turn, create and validate ourselves. We become seen.

We are the gods in our own universe and if we only use our power to consume, we destroy our souls.

It doesn’t matter what you create…whether it’s a pie or a sculpture, the very act of creation is life-affirming.

This premise is precisely why the act of shunning is so painfully powerful…in essence we say to the outcast, “We do not see you. You have ceased to exist for us.”

The shunned person becomes a ghost in his/her own community, proving that it is not hatred that hurts the most; it is being ignored.

And you know why I’m talking about this? It’s all because I’ve been making felted fingerless gloves.

Last Friday I shopped like a maniac at MCC, subsequently started a couple of projects, and somehow…simply by felting some old sweaters & making those gloves, all that is holy and heavenly has been unleashed in a flood of creative ideas and inspiration.

It has even spilled over into my writing. I feel like I am able to tackle projects that have been on the back burner for longer than I want to admit.

I’m not sure if this is another phase of being of-a-certain-age or some skewed hormonal flux but I’m waking up with crazy new plans for skirts, boots (?!) clothes for kids, jewellery and even upholstery projects. Seriously, upholstery?

Big deal you say. But. You need to know something here.

I don’t sew. Not really.

I am a straight-line-seam kind of gal.  And if I follow the directions carefully, I can thread the bobbin. I don’t do buttonholes, zippers, or anything that requires a lining. I’ve been known to hem things with a stapler and glue.

But the machine is dusted off and in a permanent new home in the den in Sechelt. The table is already covered with bits and pieces of paper for some collage boxes I want to work on, piles of fibre, buttons and I’m using that old Singer like I would use a glue gun or paintbrush…just another creative tool.

Plus these kind of projects, with their emphasis on creating new things out of old, appeals to my frugal Inner-Mennonite.

I even stopped in at Unwind – A Knit & Fibre Lounge – on my way down to the Langdale ferry. It’s a good thing I had a ferry to catch because the ideas were coming at me thick and fast. That place is like a big toy box of creativity.

Lord help me, but I think I want to knit too.