Connecting

After completing a few big projects, I took a little break from knitting to do some "nesting" & work on one of my other favourite art forms: embroidery. Now, I do stamped embroidery so you may wonder wherein lies the art. The fact is, I used none of the colours called for an just chose the colours I wanted to use. It's simple but I think it's going to really look amazing once it's completed and laundered.
While I was working on this project (it's a small table topper), I got to thinking how calm both knitting and embroidery make me feel, and how connected. By and large crafting is not a group activity unless you live in an area with a crafting circle. Which I don't. So you may well wonder how I could possibly feel connected. Well, the question really is: to whom do I feel connected?
It's kind of ironic that in this hyper-connected world of social media and electronic gadgets galore, many are more disconnected than ever. I know of several people that are, tragically, losing their ability to connect with other people on a basic, human level. Whereas I can go several days and not look at my phone, I know people who obsessively check their phone many many times during one meal. With me. Although I know this is rude, I don't really mind it. But it is saddening. So again, the question is: to whom do I feel connected?
In the past, the art of knitting was equally engaged in by members of both sexes while embroidery has been a female-dominant art for generations. Attitudes have shifted throughout the ages and it's no longer unacceptable for anyone to enjoy these art forms. However, people who enjoy these things are not always seen as "normal". Full disclosure - some individuals with no knowledge of history will not understand, for instance, a male learning to knit and might mock such a man. (But the rest of us stand up and say, "oooooohhh yeah!")
When I knit or embroider, am I connecting to those immediately around me? Not always. Am I connecting with the greater community online? Sometimes. Am I connecting more with women or feminism than men? Not really. The people I really feel like I am connecting with are my forebears. The women and men who have gone before me that developed these art forms. I feel connected to the people who invented double-pointed needles. To the person who first formed a French Knot. To my grandmothers and my great-grandmothers. To the boy soldiers in WWI that knitted socks for themselves for the winter months. To the fishermen who spent long hours knitting heavy, rustic guernsey sweaters in preparation for the coming season. To the women who created breath-taking tapestries and samplers because, frankly, that's all they were allowed to do. To all the nameless people that created heirloom arts that have endured for millennia. To the brave and ingenious men and women who have passed quietly into that good night but left an indelible mark on those who followed after.
Perhaps I'm over-thinking this but it feels really good to feel so connected to real people, to a widely unknown history and to a future generation. Because I believe that knitting, crocheting, tatting, embroidery and all other tangible art forms will live on because people like pretty things, because no matter how dope your avitar's threads are, you can't wear that teenie tiny digital sweater, and because people will always want to feel connected.

(Can you tell, I'm a hugger?)

Love and great music be with you.