Any needlecraft, if we do it out of love of the process, is a
decidedly Zen experience. Zen is the Japanese translation of a
Sanskrit word meaning meditation. Zen is a form of Buddhism,
which emphasizes meditation or self-discovery and understanding
as a way to enlightenment, rather than studying or following
rules. The goals of Zen practice are threefold. The first is to
balance the mind, or, in other words, to find the right combination
of spontaneity and self-control. This is a nice definition of
creativity, don't you think?
The second goal is enlightenment, which is a kind of superalertness.
We experience this alertness when we give ourselves
over to our hobbies, leaving the rest of our stressful lives behind
for awhile. We may not discover total, universal understanding,
but often solutions to our own problems come to us once we've
escaped to our stitching.
The third goal is to live that enlightenment in our daily lives.
This one's a little harder. We shift gears so often: from work to
family to hobby to housework to church or other volunteer work
to countless other activities. Half the time, or perhaps more,
we are thinking about everything except the current activity,
the current moment. We look without seeing, hear without listening.
We rehearse the future and relive the past, failing to
appreciate the here and now. We need to learn to work and play
mindfully-that is, aware of and appreciating the moment we
are living in. The way to learn to do this is to practice it where
it is easiest to achieve, with our beloved hobby. Sewing with a
measure of Zen awareness just might teach us how to bring that
same peace and joy into the other aspects of our lives.