Cultivating Patience

Sometimes, when running my business I get caught up in the mountain of minutia that needs to be taken care of in the day to day, and I lose sight of purpose, and the reason why I chose to start my own business in the first place.

When my Knitting Peace journey began, I was in denial of it being a business. I was more in love with the opportunity of spending my time creating while being of service, which was my intention and reason for getting on this boat in the first place.  The business aspect, however inadvertently and eventually became a necessity and a very big part of my every day.  

Deadlines, production demands, cash flow, and distribution channels at times distract me from my original intention, placing me in a state of disconnect from what I love most about Knitting Peace. During these times I feel impatient with my team of knitters, and the deadlines which aren’t met and find myself in a state of intolerance for the missed sales opportunities due to the slowness of our production process.

Luckily the Universe through the help of my team of knitters; provides opportunities for me to get back on course, and attune to what matters most.   During the past few weeks, after our week long hiatus, due to the hunger strike, I went back to the jail with a clearer head, and I understood that I was interacting with women who are dealing with a lot of challenges; they are humans who require special care, and extra patience. I cannot expect them to deliver what other knitters who aren’t incarcerated deliver and in order for our journey to coast in harmony I needed to adjust my sales and cultivate patience and compassion for what these women experience in their lives.

In this space I learned that Sandra our newest team member has a 16 year old daughter who visits her and sometimes has to walk home, because she doesn’t have money for the fair. Bertha has a 14 year old son with epilepsy who lives in the jail, and some days it’s really hard for her to knit, she does not have the energy to do so.  Vicky sometimes gives her knitting to her bunk mates, so they have some work to do. These stories are part of the everyday lives of these women living in incarceration. In losing my expectations, and aligning with what is I am more able to see and experience them where they are, making our journey flow more gracefully towards a greater good. 

~Namaste