Journey or Don't Stop Believin'

Today marked the start of the school year for some university-employed friends of this blog. For me it meant going back to work at the college after two weeks off. I can't speak for them, but I'm guessing we all had pretty hectic days. I'll get to relive the first day of classes crunch soon enough. In the meantime the awaiting avalanche on the first day back from vacation will have to suffice for me.

As you may know, there's been a lot of uncertainty and flux at my workplace over the last several months. Our offices moved this summer to a new building on campus, an overall positive change but one that triggered major headaches I won't detail here. (I know it's unlikely that anyone familiar with the situation might come across this post, but it's not worth the risk.) Let's just say we are behind schedule on some important stuff, and no advancement was going to be made while I was away.

I avoided checking work-related e-mail while on vacation because I knew something would set me off if I clicked on enough new messages. Not to worry. They were still there for me to read today. How long did it take for two weeks of rest and relaxation to vaporize upon returning to work? About two hours. OK, that's an exaggeration. I still feel good, but two hours at the office was like a sharply administered slap to the face after the last fourteen days.

And that's where knitting comes in. I began knitting as a diversion from work, as a way to take my mind off aggravations out of my control. Could last week's stuckness be attributed to the absence of that stress? While I think it's probably impossible to create without some pain, I don't believe that the greatest art comes exclusively from misery. Nevertheless, there's something to be said for using creative outlets to channel one's dissatisfaction and hurt. The universe tends to balance things on cosmic scales, so it follows that relaxed complacency might offset the need for knitting to equalize things.

Don't take this armchair philosophy to mean that I have to be unhappy or restless to knit. What I'm saying is that the things that bring us pleasure take on more meaning in the midst of circumstances that irritate or frustrate us.

How about I put it in different terms? Most of you know that I review films. I see an absurd number each year--250 to 300 in the theaters, depending on how gung ho I am--which means I see a lot of crap. Sure, I'd prefer not to see the dregs of cinema, but in watching the worst of the worst, the best films are more cherished. Finding a gem after wading through the bad and mediocre makes the effort worth the trouble.

I can't say that I'm thankful for bad movies, workplace nuisances, and personal discontent, but I accept that those things are part and parcel with being able to acknowledge what is good and worth pursuing.

So to my fellow first day survivors I say, "Take heart." At the very least today gave you a reason to pick up the needles.