The semester is almost over, and soon I will not be required to crochet anymore. So will I? I think the answer is yes. However, I don't see myself getting into it much more than I have for quite some time, and I will probably take a bit of a break from it to begin with. This will mostly be due to the fact that it's getting nice out and there is no way you will find me sitting inside crocheting little monsters when I could be throwing a frisbee or going on a hike. However, I feel that I have benefited from my new occupation and am glad for what I've learned. I feel a sense of pride when I look at little Glenita, and I would like to to make more things as to foster that successful feeling. I've also had fun with it, and because of the endless options for crocheting, I know that there will always be something new and fun I could make.
This being said, I really don't know how to apply crocheting to the concept of hope discussed by Spencer, Davidson, & While (1997). In the article, hope is defined as "a general state of positive belief about the future." So how does that relate to crocheting? My feelings about hope run very deep and are connected to my strongest fears, dreams, sentiments, and values. But crocheting is a pretty superficial activity in comparison with others which mean so much more to me. The activities which I find great meaning in are intertwined with those emotions which I associate with hope. For example, I find great meaning in the occupation of baking because my mother is a wonderful baker and I hope to be as good as she is someday. No just so that I can bake well, but because my mom is also my hero and my role model. I want to be just like her in every way. That is where my hope lies, and it can be connected with the occupation of baking. But crocheting? As much as I have enjoyed my experience learning to crochet, that deeper meaning is still lacking; therefore, so is the hope. I would like to continue crocheting, but I don't think I hope for it.
Hope has almost a sacred essence in my mind. It is so much more than just a desire for future events. It is what you dream to become and how you wish others to speak of you when you're gone. It is the way you envision your heart. Is it hard, cold, numb? Or is it large and strong, beating loudly, with purpose, and filled with all the love you can possibly possess? Hope is kindness, because you long to instill a desire for a better tomorrow in the lives you touch. Hope is faith - a faith in yourself, in others, in yesterday, in God, in peace, in trust... in anything. Hope is love - a love for every good thing. It is a love which holds beauty... and is alright with letting everyone else have some. A love which none of us deserve, but it's what we are meant to feel. It heals. It supports. It binds. It gives. It smiles, and makes my hearts smile too.
Maybe I'm just a little girl, naive to so much of what is out there. But, no matter what, no one deserves to be without hope.
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson
Be hopeful, and never forget.
Yours Truly
Spencer, J., Davidson, H., &White, V. (1997). Helping clients develop hopes for the future. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51, 191-198.
Hi Hanna. You say that crocheting is superficial and doesn't have much value in hope, but do you think that it fits within a larger context/concept? (like leisure?) that you value that can provide hope?
ReplyDeleteI think I can hope for it to a certain extent, such as through leisure time. But I just think that "hope" is the wrong word for it because hope means so much more to me than just something I would like to happen. If crocheting were connected with a deeper personal sentiment, I may find more hope in it.
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