Finally finished it! Endings and beginnings.

I finished quilting and binding a wall hanging a few days ago, and decided to apply a sleeve, since that's the only good way for it to hang, really...on a wall...as a "wallhanging."

It has had a long ride from inception to completion; from Hadley to Clarkston; from here to there.

The boys and I have also come a long way during all that time.

They have grown so much; in fact, they completed their own 'journeys' from boyhood into young men. And I learned a lot about myself, and the world around me, while that quilt lay waiting for attention. I learned to stop letting things wait, and to stop waiting for what it is I want.

My expectations of myself and my goals - and of those around me - has changed, too.

I have been spending these past few weeks unearthing the remainders of my life (to this moment in time) from the boxes I had relegated it all to when we moved ten years ago.

Some of those boxes were opened at the time of the move, the possessions sorted through...and then re-packed and shuffled off to the garage, where they have been sitting all of this time!

Some of it I was overjoyed to see again and have found ways to integrate it back into my world, but much of it I have been able to view with a harsher eye and have let it go. The piles and walls I had built around myself (and in the garage) are coming down. Paths to and from my door have opened, and they become wider and easier to navigate with every passing day.

On those days when I walk out to the garage and roll up my sleeves, determined to make a dent in the clutter and debris, I chant "be merciless" over and over. Not in my head but out loud. I open a new garbage bag or place a newly emptied box on the floor to receive the unnecessary items, and begin to clean and purge. I allow myself a moment to reflect on some things, and then make the decision regarding that item's fate. It's been exhilarating....freeing....cathartic.

I found two large boxes of photos I had thought were lost for good! I uncovered items I no longer care if they stay or go - and out they went! I have made such a change in the landscape that I managed to reclaim floor space in front of a window that I am now using for a gardening area; even planted several trays of seeds - both flowers and veggies - and soon will be able to get these in the ground outside!

My commitment to myself to change and grow and move forward is becoming reality. It's been fun, and a lot of work...but all of it has been worthwhile. There is still a lot to do out there, but I am ok with it.

There are still a lot of [quilting] projects to complete before beginning something new, and as much as I daydream about what is to come and what I want to start next, I know there are things I must finish first. Some to 'clean out the corners' and widen my path and field of vision, some to simply make room, and others just to finish for the sake of not letting it hang in limbo any more.