The Happiness Project

For several years now Gerwerken Crafts has been about making things.  I have knitted and sewed and made my house a home.  I enjoy making things.  I like the feeling I get at the end of a project - the sense of accomplishment is a powerful motivator.  However, for more than two years, I have not made much that you can easily see or hold.

A craft is the application of skill or expertise in the creation of something that one desires. I have realized that the things that I truly desire are not objects that I can create. What I truly desire is daily happiness and a life I can look back on with contentment.

Over the past two and a half years, I have researched and experimented with methods for obtaining happiness. I have simplified and culled that which no longer served my purpose, and I have added things that contribute toward my peace. I have been learning a new craft and I have made a tremendous amount of progress toward becoming the happiest and best version of myself that I can possibly be. I still have a lot of work to do.  I will always have work to do because happiness is something that you have to work toward every day, and becoming better has only shown me how much further I have to go.

I plan to spend the rest of my life perusing happiness and becoming a better version of myself.  One of the ways I plan to do that is by sharing what I have learned with all of you because I believe that happiness breeds happiness and that part of becoming better is helping others to the best of our abilities.

To that end Gerwerken Crafts and the Hang Your Hat podcast will be changing focus a bit in the next year.  I will still be sharing the tangible things I create, but I will also be sharing the things that I do, and the things that I have learned that have made my life and myself better.  The focus of the blog will change from crafting things to learning to craft the best possible version of our lives.  I am calling this conversion the Happiness Project, and I am hoping that all of you will join me in it, and share what makes you happy so that we can all learn from each other and support each other’s journey.

Balance

It is the first day of fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumnal Equinox.  It is widely believed that the Autumnal Equinox is one of two days during the year where day and night are equally balanced.  While that is not strictly speaking true (listen to HYH episode 19 for details), it still serves as a wonderful bit of symbolism.  What better time of year for self reflection? All to often our lives are out of balance and we suffer for it, sometimes without even realizing it.

I started this I year in a bit of a tailspin.  My husband of nearly 14 years told me before the start of the new year that he wanted a divorce. I found, heading into the new year, that my life was terribly out of balance. I was stressed, out of shape, and over worked. I hadn’t been taking care of myself. However, the divorce, as awful as it was, forced me to reassess my life, figure out what was important to me, reestablish my goals, and realign my behavior so that I could meet my goals.

It started with something simple. I was feeling overwhelmed, and I needed a sense of accomplishment, so I set a goal that I knew I could keep. I committed to doing just one push up a day, and I did one push up a day. Or, I started with one push up a day. Once I got moving I gained momentum and I did more.

I started doing yoga, and felt my stress slipping away. I stretched along with Adrienne from Yoga with Adrienne every morning before work. I took up biking after a hiatus that had been far too long, and I rediscovered an old love - ballroom dancing. I also cleared the clutter in my house, and along with it much of the clutter in my mind. I became more me.

I started out simply trying to take better care of myself, and gain a little balance in my life. While I still have a very long way to go before I have met my goals, I am already far healthier, happier, and less stressed than I have been in years.

Good can come out of the worst of situations. Today is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our lives, start taking care of ourselves, and begin the journey that ends with each of us being the best version of ourselves.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my readers and listeners for your continuing support. During this trying year it meant the world to me.