Matter Over Mind

Wait… what?

“It’s mind over matter, dummy.” said my husband as I typed the headline you see here. “Is it though?” I said, employing the “Buddha on the mountaintop” method of annoying your spouse. SWISH.

I love feelings. I’m twitchy and nervous as a genetic trait. I really enjoy meditation. I’m introverted, but talk a lot. I sew garments. I teach people to sew. I worked in marketing for 16 years as a writer, editor and strategist. I get pissed off really quickly and get over it just as quickly. I have a pug, and subsequently have far too many pug-related swag items. All of these things a little parts of me, which connect and interconnect in ways that ebb and flow. I assume you’re similar.

You are probably a walking mess of multitudes. You do this, you like this, you loathe this, you secretly belt out this song when no one is around. People are multifaceted, and so is life.

But life in 2018 is more than complex, it’s downright unruly.

For your generation, the space shuttle blows up every day.

—Dave Chappelle

We are constantly bombarded with stressful and upsetting things. They’re coming at us from the Internet, from our workplaces, from friends, family, strangers—it’s a lot, dammit.

Like a browser with 50 tabs open, our brains and adrenal glands are processing too much all at once. Something has to give.

For me, the practice of meditation and mindful making has been a source of peace in times where it’s hard to get away from the world’s noise. (Hell, it’s a way to get away from my inner world’s noise, too.)

The practice of creating tangible things with my own two hands had brought me back into my body when my brain was struggling to run a marathon straight through a marching-band competition where the music was just that sound from inception, car alarms and that incessant beeping that happens at airports. I teach people to sew to help them find what I’ve found through my mindful making practice, which warms my heart and helps me sleep at night.

And so, it’s matter that has helped me calm my mind. (See, I told my husband I was right? BAM.)

So, if some of the multitudes you contain are anxiety, stress or depression, consider taking up a hobby that gets you out of your mind and into a project that requires your attention, your creativity and your own two hands.

I’ll be right here rooting for you, and offering up some resources, advice and good vibes along the way.