Bird by Bird

"Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."
-Elizabeth Zimmerman

First of all, dear readers, I hope ya’ll had a Happy Fourth of July.

I spent last night, as I do each 4th of July and January 1st, with my best friend, Elgar (in case you can’t guess by her moniker -- she’s a musician). After completing all the usual festivities, like watching the illegal fireworks from her backyard and chowing down on some yummy BBQ, we got down to the business at hand – hours and hours and hours of knitting (with some TV watching –hey, even English majors need their downtime). So we stretched out our wrists, cracked our fingers, and started knitting as we always do – taking it line by line and, in this case, bird by bird.

We were lucky enough, by following the instructions in the pattern to make two very adorable bluebirds for a friend of mine having her second child (one bird per girl). After those many hours of cursing the yarn, struggling to not lose my patience as I misread the directions, and deciding what type of bird eye looked best, I was greatly satisfied with the final product.

I also realized how long it has been since I made such a seemingly complicated and complex project a tangible reality. In grad school, one has the luxury (and also necessity) of taking each book, each essay line by line, crafting one’s response in such a way to create a hopefully articulate piece worthy of handing in.

But in my new profession, teaching, that same end result is not always easy to discover. I found myself, as all teachers do, at times wondering if I was making any progress – if my attempts to teach ever really helped my students. At first, I spent way too much time focusing on the big moment -- waiting for a (to use an incredibly corny image) fledgling bird to unfurl her academic wings and soar under my guidance. But, over time, I’ve realized that the point is to find the smaller victories -- the slower student who finally grasped a book’s main theme, the girl who wrote a great line in her essay, or the shy freshman who overcame her fright to give a speech in front of the class. And so, last night was simply another reminder to just do as I’ve always done – make something of each moment, patiently put the project together, reach the end and start another with fresh energy.

So, you may be thinking to yourself, “Geez Melville, way to overthink a little yarn project here!” But, appropriately enough, this morning I also finished a book that applies to the topic well – Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She, too, advocates taking things one “bird” at a time which offers a valuable lens in which to examine any aspect of one’s life. After all, creating anything – whether a yarn project, a book, or even a memorable moment in the classroom – takes time, creativity, and a little bit of patience when one’s efforts may not succeed on the first go-round.

So, here’s to just taking things as they come ---

Bird                                                                   by                                                              Bird

Melville