A Stretch or Two

Last week I was presented with an opportunity to create and execute a quilt design in a limited amount of time.  Not an impossible task.  Until I sat down to think of designs for this very specific group of fabric.  These fabrics are very pretty, very feminine.  And there is nothing in my stash that resembles them.  You see where I'm going with this.

What was a straightforward project turned into a challenge that scrambled my brain.  The first design idea was rejected because it was too traditional.  (And here I was trying to put myself into these traditional shoes.  Fortunately, I didn't have to walk far in them.)  So it was back to the drawing board.  Several ideas later, one design was chosen.

Throughout this adventure, I was reminded of two important concepts.  The first is going outside your comfort zone now and then.  It is important.  Sometimes it actually hurts.  Sometimes you are thrown up against a wall and have to figure out how to get on the other side with only the tools you carry.  We discover things about our process that we ordinarily take for granted.

The second is not losing sight of yourself.  There is a tendency to abandon, temporarily, your distinctive qualities.  It makes a certain sort of sense to assume a new mindset.  But it's the kind of the sense that leaves only emptiness in its wake.  You miss the completeness which comes from extending yourself, your authentic self, into unfamiliar territory. 

What is true in this small context of a single experience is also true in a big way throughout every part of our lives.  Learning and growing and stretching are necessary if we are to reach our potential.