How to find a feeling of inner ease

Also, introducing the Swap Shop, a free eBay for knitwear

Last year, my 79-year-old dad was visiting me and we saw a bumper sticker that read “Resist.” With a curious tone, he asked, “Resist what?”

Now, I live in San Francisco and bumper stickers that say “Resist” are pretty common. They are shorthand for movements of social justice and human rights, and generally a rallying cry for liberals to oppose political policies that are harmful or unjust, especially to groups of people who are usually pushed to the margins or ignored.

These bumper stickers are a way that many liberals, at least here in the Bay Area, started to outwardly signal that they are in solidarity with communities of color. I remember seeing Resist bumper stickers appear around the time of the Women’s March in 2017 and Trump’s ban of people from predominantly Muslim countries being able to travel to the US.

I was amused, but not surprised, that my dad wasn’t familiar with the meaning of the “Resist” slogan.

It’s his vantage point.

He’s a happy, aging Boomer. A white man from the South who, while liberal in his social views, has enjoyed a certain ease in moving through the world, even as he’s endured and persisted through vicissitudes that have make life difficult and precious, both.

It’s hard to recognize that ease when you have it. When the world is simply set up to accommodate you. There are few things to resist.

It’s a noisy time in the world, friends, and you and I both know that ease can be hard to come by.

Holding on to a feeling of inner ease can be challenging when the outer world isn’t set up for our ease.

Lately, I’ve been trying to find that soft life that is slow and sweet, but that doesn’t stick my head in the sand like an ostrich. (Because if ever there was an analogy of a vantage point that’s unhelpful, it’s the ostrich foolishly ignoring a problem and hoping it will magically vanish.)

The difficulties of our current times won’t vanish, and I have no more answers than you about how to deal with them (despite the headline of this post which promises answers but doesn’t deliver!).

But I do know one thing for sure: Keeping ourselves soft, searching for understanding, and leaning in to the knitting and yarn and slow hand crafts that ground us … these are also resistance.

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Let’s clean out a drawer: the Swap Shop is here!

I once had a friendly acquaintance who used to tell me that whenever she felt truly discombobulated, she cleaned out a drawer. I have taken her advice from time to time, over the years, and darn if it isn’t true for me, too.

My favorite drawer to clean out is my kitchen junk drawer. It feels so good to sort things into groups, to throw away useless bits-and-bobs, and to put things back into the drawer in easy-to-find, logical groupings, without perfect “drawer organizers,” but just in random household containers. Sorted, imperfect, and useful.

The Swap Shop is going to help you feel just like this, but with your knitwear.

Last week, I encouraged you to find two pieces of knitwear that don’t fit you anymore, that don’t suit your current style, and that you’re ready to pass along to someone who would love to wear it.

It’s time to list those items and get ready for them to be claimed by someone new!

And if you didn’t join us last week, it’s not too late to sort through some knitwear and find something you want to pass along!

Meet: the Swap Shop. It’s like a free eBay for knitwear. (Props to my husband for this amazing tagline, which was his reply to me when I told him what I was building.)

Here’s how it works:

• Make sure you're a paid subscriber of my newsletter. This gives you the ability to list 2 items of knitwear each time I run the Swap Shop. (I’ll run it twice a year. The next time will be January.) If you have more than 2 items right now to pass along, you can buy tickets to list extra items here.

• Submit your items to be listed using this form.

• When your item has been claimed, I will send you a postage paid mailing label by email. You then print the label, package the item, and mail it to its new home.

• If you were one of the folks who replied that you need help with everything, I’ve got you. I am offering a set number of concierge service spots, where I will photograph and list your item for you, do all the measuring and weighing, and also mail it to the recipient. (If you can do all that stuff, and just need mailing materials, I’ve got you, too.)

Over the next two weeks, I will take all your submissions and turn them into actual listings in the Swap Shop.

When everything’s ready for claiming (planned for Sunday, July 28), paid subscribers to this newsletter will get a full week of first dibs on everything that’s offered. You will simply purchase the $0 item and pay for shipping. You’ll be able to sort listings by general sizing.

I’ll then open it up to everyone on the newsletter list to ensure everything finds a great, new home.

What’s in it for you? Why should you (essentially) pay $6 to get rid of something?

Because it’s going to make you feel really really good.

You’re going to feel really great about rehoming your beautiful knitwear and, at the same time, making some room in your closet for the things that fit your body and your current style.

You will know that your handmade item is going to someone who wants it, for a very low (to them) cost (the item is free; recipients pay for shipping).

You’ll also gain access to other newsletter benefits.

In short: you’re paying for useful, connected, warm-hearted, liberal community.

I’ve been working hard to set up paid subscriber perks that are truly useful. I think that, together, we can create one of the good spots on the Internet.

If you want to be part of this, but funds are tight right now, you can ask for a community-funded membership here. If you really like all this, and funds are more plentiful for you, you can contribute a membership here.

Whereever you find yourself today, whether it’s cleaning out a drawer with me or not, I hope you find some quiet, slow, still moments to enjoy the work of your hands. It’s work but also play.

In the spirit of quiet play, I’d like to share a little joy I found this morning on Instagram. The wonderful knitting artist and video creator India Rose Crawford has released a new video of her knitted Frog’s adventures. Her videos reflect weeks and weeks of work, and they are so magical. Enjoy!

indiarosecrawford

A post shared by @indiarosecrawford