The alchemy of kindness

I discovered something this past week. Or rather, I think I put some pieces together that are starting to make a whole for me right now.

Whimsy to banish the darkness

My impulse recently has been to crochet whimsical things. I’ve recently finished Baba Yaga’s Hut (pattern by Megan Lapp) I made pop tart covers for mine and my partner’s kindles recently. I made a mug rug but it’s The Scream. Then I made a Green Onion scarf earlier this year. I like making silly things that bring smiles.

I also tend to give away many of these things. When these things make people smile, giving them away is easy. And maybe that’s my current mission. Everything is so hard right now. If I can bring some peace and joy to myself by making these things and then give them away for another shot of peace and joy for someone else, that feels like a pretty good job.

I just started reading Amie McNee’s “We need your art” and in the beginning chapter she goes hard at the corporate capitalist system for telling artists to grow up and get a real job while at the same time exploiting our labor for their profit. And one of the ways I feel really strongly about short circuiting that is making things and then offering them for free when I am able.

Let’s start with feeding each other

I’ve also recently read Garrett Bucks article “We feed each other. Because who are we if we don’t?” and I one hundred and ten percent agree feeding each other should come before giving away my silly little yarn projects, I still feel like giving away my goofy projects is a way to help ease some burdens as well. (I’m also donating to my local food bank and you can too! This link will let you enter your zip code and find the Feeding America affiliated food bank in your community. They need your help right now.)

I’m on Buck’s newsletter list and he’s been talking about how his newsletter community has donated almost $30K to hunger relief charities since he posted that article a week ago. I can’t help but think about everyone I know who is making the world better in their little corner of it. So many people doing unseen kindnesses. I appreciate that so much right now.

Alchemy

The word alchemy keeps showing itself to me. It’s in both the McNee chapter I read this weekend as well as the Bucks article. It was also in the intro chapter of another book I picked up this weekend. And it was in a journaling prompt last week. Whenever I get hit with a word like this, I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something. And the phrase “the alchemy of kindness” has been circling my brain as I try to weave all of these threads together. I am reminded again and again in my art practice that baby steps matter. That every little bit adds up. So I give you that wisdom as a reminder right now that even while things are terrible, people are doing good things all around us and to see them, we only need to pay attention.

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