Emerging into the blogosphere

Goodness me. I am writing a blog.

If you are reading this, my first ever blog post, it probably means that you are either a friend or family member who has received a link, or you have entered a keyword like “embroidery” or even “clergy wife” and clicked through to my blog to see whether I’ve got anything useful or interesting to say.  At this moment in time, I have to say your guess is as good as mine! I’m waiting to see where this takes me as well.

I never saw myself as a blogger. Why would anyone want to read my ramblings, and anyway, what would I ramble about? But recently, a few things have conspired together to change my mind.  Casting my eye around me, I can see a part worked crewel work robin, various completed gold work and surface embroidery projects, new-to-me second hand sewing/embroidery machine, and a burgeoning stash of silk, stranded cotton, metal threads, art and craft materials, source books, yarns, needles… and it is all calling to me. My enjoyable pastime is getting serious.  I love my job (I’m a clinical trial manager four days a week), and being with my husband and six year old son.  Being a clergy wife is also something I am deeply committed to, things like fund-raising and leading children’s church come with the territory. Then there is this disability thing too.  I have a genetic malformation of my connective tissue, which renders the tissues of my body stretchy and fragile. The most obvious problem is that it affects my mobility, and I can be seen stumbling about with sticks or being rather more elegant and using my wheelchair, but there are more subtle and more debilitating affects that sap my energy, steal my time, and put limits on what I can do on any given day. I will probably write about Ehlers Danlos Syndrome separately and in more detail at some point.  But the point is this: I am really quite a busy person, and a lot of what I do is fulfilling and rather  lovely.  So why do I find myself plotting and scheming to find five minutes together to practise my satin stitch? and why is it becoming more and more urgent to me that I get to a professional level in design and execution?  The thing is, I’ve seen this pattern before.  I’m married to a priest, remember? I ought to know a vocation when I see one.

The blog is partly about admitting to myself that my creative hobbies, particularly embroidery, need to be taken seriously.  I need to organise thoughts and inspiration, and figure out how to move towards making it a profession.  I’ve been keeping little notes here and there for a while now, maybe it is time to get organised. there’s also an element of hope: maybe blogging will be a source of more inspiration, and maybe even some encouragement.  But I do have to admit, amongst these high ideals, that a big part of what finally launched me into the blogosphere was Alice, who sat here and insisted that I open a wordpress account RIGHT NOW, and just “get on with it”.  Alice, it’s all your fault.