Learning

Have you ever joined an Embroiderers’ Guild or local Stitch ‘n Chat only to find yourself several stitches in and wondering what you’re doing there? 

Perhaps you signed up for a class either online or in person and quickly realised you wouldn’t be able to keep up with those around you? It may even be that you started a project you knew would provide many ‘opportunities for growth’ only to discover you weren’t up for that much growth?!

Feeling inadequate in our time with needle and thread is an all too common occurrence and one that is often communicated to us at Inspirations HQ. We hear from stitchers the world over who hesitate to believe they’re capable of tackling the projects published in Inspirations magazine or think their stitching is anything but worthy of being shared right here in All Stitched Up!

A recent blog post from Hannah Brencher, however, pointed us in a direction that might just change those ‘less than’ mindsets we can sometimes find ourselves indulging.

When Hannah was invited to travel with a prominent Christian women’s conference, the excitement she experienced in receiving the invitation quickly turned to feelings of dread as she started to ask questions such as, ‘Who am I within this speaker line up? What do I have to say that actually matters? How can I even compare to these other voices?’ 

In short, Hannah was experiencing a good dose of Imposter Syndrome, and if you resonated with anything from the opening paragraphs, chances are you can sympathise with how she was feeling!

Upon hearing the news of Hannah’s invitation, however, her mum exclaimed, 

It was those simple words that changed everything for Hannah.

Instead of searching for all the ways she was qualified for what was before her, comparing herself to those around her and searching for approval, her mind went to the beauty the opportunity presented and to myriad chances the conference would afford to learn things she didn’t yet know. A simple shift in perspective was all Hannah needed, and it’s a shift we too can make.

If we approach our time with needle and thread with the mindset of learning, instead of comparing and worrying we don’t measure up, we’ll take our notebook in hand and learn from the stitching before us as well as those around us. Instead of trying to prove our worth, we’ll simply realise we’re there to learn.

Here’s to being students of stitching for life and always learning…