Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Ball of Yarn: A Simile to Life



Well, technically, it's a ball of really thick pink thread.

Ever since my adorable, crafty mother taught me how to crochet, I've been making baby blankets and burp rags for friends who are soon to pop. I had a 1/2 finished burp rag on the table next to the couch, and thought it would be safe there over night (or maybe I didn't take into thought its need for safety, but I should have). This morning I awoke as usual, and as I was running out the door to work, encountered this in the kitchen: 




It may be hard to see in the picture, but the floor is covered with baby pink thread. Our wonderfully playful kitty, Sully, had the time of his life last night! Seriously, the time of his little kitten life. It's true, cats DO play with balls of string.
The string was completely unraveled with only a teeny, tiny bit left. 
The string started over by the lamp in the living room, where it was raveled around the table legs and lamp cords, then it continued under the couch, over to the kitchen table (this is where the brunt of the mess was). It was wrapped around and around the legs of the table and chairs. Then it made a huge leap over to the opposite side of the living room where it extended under the couch, then over the couch, then around the lamp... then back to the table where the knots got thicker. Then, somehow, the ball itself was up on top of the other couch, wedged between the cushions. How did he do it? I do not know. When I found the mess, I looked around and found him tangled in the mess, laying on his back, paws in the air, gnawing on a piece of thread. 
Now is the part where I relate this back to life. 
As I spent about 2 hours re-raveling the thread into a nice round ball, I'd be twisting and twirling the thread, find a huge knot, and find my way through it. At that point I'd think, "Whew! I'm home-free!" only to follow the trail across the living room and find another huge knot under the couch... then think, "Oh good, this is almost over..." Then I'd follow the line back to the kitchen table where another huge knot was hiding from view. As I tediously re-traced Sully's steps, I realized how all of us have trials we go through, and a lot of times, when we think it's over, it's not. And we can't move on with life until it is...just as I couldn't continue crocheting my cute little blanket until the string was usable again. Luckily the string was all salvageable. I could have had to cut it, or just throw it away and start over. But either way, I would still end up finishing the blanket. Just like with life... sometimes you just have to cut the ties and start over, but you still fair well if you focus on following your dreams. I realized, too, as I was cleaning up this mess that my sweet Sullivan made, that I didn't feel angry. In fact, I found the whole scenario quite entertaining. I thought, "Some people would get rid of a cat over a little thing like this." That, also, is just like life... through trials, I can choose to be mad, or I can choose to think it's hysterical. One thing's for sure, we're keeping Sully.

There's my simile to life.