Stretching the Imagination

Well, hello there blog!  I remember you!

I’m pretty sure that one of my pet-peeves is folks apologizing for not updating their blogs.  Let’s just say I’ve been uninspired, shall we?  And uncertain of what to write.  More posts about Down syndrome?  Random day to day bits about what we’re crafting and cooking and making out of snow?  Rants about politics (oh, Indiana, at least I always have something to gripe about living here)?  Descriptions of what one does with two boys inside for FIVE snow days in a row?

We’re going a little stir crazy around here.

And then, last night it hit me.  Why I read blogs, and why I might as well keep writing.

I read blogs because they expand my imagination of what daily life can be.

Several years back I discovered knitting blogs.  They were my gateway into the craft.  Instead of reading a book about how to knit-into-the-back-loop, or following a logical order of projects moving from scarf to hat to socks to sweater, I started following the projects—and the lives—of knitters with more experience.  They gave me inspiration and confidence, and as I read along I picked up skills and advice, and soon I was teaching knitting classes at our local shop.

More than the technical aspects of the craft, I saw how folks incorporated their creative side into their day-to-day life.  Maybe they knit in front of the TV or on their commute.  Maybe they made matching sweaters for their nieces or toys for their kids or socks for their grandmas.

I read how knitters found joy in their practice and took pride in their finished products.

Getting to know knitters, virtual knitters, helped me imagine myself as a knitter.  And pretty soon I was a knitter.

Wha’d’ya know, that’s the same reason I keep browsing through the blogs of families impacted by Down syndrome.  There are books with information and doctors and therapists with advice—but I come to blogs to widen my imagination.  To see some of the possibilities of what our life can look like in the coming years.

And my blog here?  I doesn’t need to do anything more than that.  I don’t need to have advice or answers, I don’t need to plan out my content, I don’t need to be engaging or poignant or thoughtful or funny every day.

Maybe someone’s imagination will be sparked by what they read.  Or maybe no one will read it, and I’ll just have some satisfaction in knowing that I’ve been using my own imagination to write our own little story.