Remember the Crazies in Spark #4? I think Doubt is related, but the Crazies prevents us from doing things while Doubt makes **me** think I can’t do something and should just continue on as I am. Doubt prevents me from taking risks. Not knowing the outcome is scary.
Bloomston says we have to trust the process. She says to “befriend your doubt…. Maybe even nicely ask your doubt to leave.” (pg.65). Hhmm. I have never tried this. She says that “When we are trying to get rid of something, we expend a lot of energy and we are unwittingly feeding it.” (pg.65). This is interesting and really makes me stop and think. If I have doubts, are they creating other doubts – inviting their friends to the party?
Bloomston has four ways of removing doubt: Rituals, Music, Affirmations and Talismans. Rituals spoke to me most. We do not “…have enough rituals in our modern culture…” (pg.65). To each his own, but I feel this is true for myself. I have created some quiltmaking rituals:
- I turn on all of the switches and things in the same order.
- I check all of my tools: are they in the right place? Are there any issues I need to resolve?
- then I get started with the step I have set up unless I have been working through a construction problem in my mind and am ready to tackle it.
- When I finish for the day, I always set up the next step so I can get started right away when I have a moment.
Perhaps I have more rituals, but I will have to think about what they are.
Carrie Bloomston describes a talisman as “…an object believed to contain certain magical properties that may provide good luck or fortune.” (pg.66). I definitely have talismen. I have a little shrine of photos of people closest to me. In that same space I have some objects that I care about: a shell, a smooth glass heart, some rocks with words – courage, peace, healing – carved into them. I also have a rotating ATC and a few other things there as well. There are a few places where I have placed things I care about. I guess these all could be called mini-shrines. I never really thought about it because I have created these instinctively, but these are my talismen.
What are your rituals?
What are your talismen?
Nota bene: we are working through Carrie Bloomston’s book, The Little Spark. Buy it. Support the artist. There is a lot more to each spark than what I am writing and the original chapters will help you. Go buy Carrie Bloomston’s book, so you get the full benefit of her fabulousness! You can see my book review, which is what started this flight of fancy.
You can find the last spark on the blog several weeks ago.
