When the darkness outside is reflected in the shadows of our minds…

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I have no science to back up this claim. I’ve researched no studies, watched no documentaries, beaten no bushes to learn the truth. All of this is purely conjecture from my own mind, based on my own experiences.

Long Dark hours outside emphasize the darkness that resides within me.

It doesn’t make sense.  

Maybe, if we have to have an explanation, it’s a throwback to a simpler time; the days when we spent our time hunting, and gathering and working the fields during the daylight. When sunshine symbolized work, and darkness symbolized a time of rest and introspection. 

More likely–to me, at least–the times when sunshine meant safety, and darkness symbolized the terror of unknown predators that wanted to eat us when we couldn’t see them coming. Does your mind feel like that? As if when you stop filling it with intentional laughter and gaiety, the shadows creep in like monsters in the night? Fears, and doubts, and self-recriminations taking over–robbing you of your sleep in the wee hours?

Me, too.

My mind is never quiet. Never still. Always seeking, searching, berating me when I let my guard down. 

So…how do we combat this incessant need to tear ourselves down from the inside? How do we build walls tall enough that the monsters can’t break through, or climb over, or dig beneath? How do we keep them from shredding our minds, and terrorizing our hearts, and belittling our already timid self esteem?

I have found a way...will it help you?

I have found distraction to be my key…but we mustn’t allow escapism to become our everything. It can be a TOOL to navigate the treacherous waters in our minds, but allowing to be the ship we sail to freedom is a trap to be avoided.

We’ve heard it a dozen different ways:

*Idle hands are the devil’s workshop

*All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

*I’m wondering, why do all the monsters come out at night?

If you are a gardener, you know that the following statement is true: if you don’t cover the earth, she will find a way to cover herself. Meaning, basically, the earth doesn’t want to be bare. Plants WANT to grow. Regardless of what you think, or how you feel, your mind is not a barren plot. It really IS up to you to decide: once you rip out the weeds, what is allowed to grow in their place?

Will you allow the monsters to take up residence, scatter weeds with the offal left in their wake? Will you plant something beautiful instead?

What fills your mind with light?

When you make the conscious decision to fill your mind with love and laughter and light…when you close your eyes, what is it that you see?

When you find your fingers itching to pick up and create something, what do you inevitably pick up to work on?

Do you cook? Do you clean? Do you listen to music? Do you phone a friend, or a relative, or an online gaming community where you can spend a few minutes distracting yourself from the reality that threatens to tear you down?

I’ve discovered that crafting is not an individual task. It is a collective form of self expression that doesn’t have to be limited by labels.

You can be a kitchen crafter – cooking delicious meals for your family to enjoy. You can be a weaver of tales, whispering stores to the littles in your life. You can be a crocheter,  a knitter, a quilter, a paper machier, a jewelry maker, a blacksmith, a tailor, a purveyor of home crafted goodies you want to share with the world.

You can be a whisperer of self love, in the darkness of your mind. You can be a candle in the abyss of someone else’s heart.

You can be a single heartbeat. You can be a single breath. You can be everything, or nothing at all.

Most importantly, you can just BE.

The Crafter's Vow: We create, so we don't destroy ourselves.

This is more than just a catchy phrase. This is my secret–and I’m sharing it with you.

If we don’t find a way to fill our minds with beautiful things, it will fill with things we do not find beautiful. No void will remain empty for long, lovelies, and the truth of that cannot be denied.

My challenge for you this week: find a single thing that makes your soul sing.

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