Learning and Improv

Dear Reader,

Someone asked me to make a cloth cover for a device. No problem. I started out thinking it would be like a pillowcase, or maybe more like a fitted sheet. After mulling it over for a while, I realized it would be much simpler to make a quilted pad that would fit inside the device. (The device is mostly flat with slightly raised edges.)

Simple enough. Mostly. Except, I’ve never really quilted. I’ve made a couple of comforters, but they had regularly spaced ties instead of quilting stitches.

Hmm. Maybe I could do some hand stitching. But what sort of design? Or I could use my fancy-dancy sewing machine’s decorative stitches. But which stitches, and how to make it look good on the fabric I’d chosen?

I’m old enough that it’s not always automatic to go to the internet for answers. But this time I did. I watched an online class about machine quilting with a walking foot. (I have one of those too—it’s a specific attachment for my sewing machine.)

Somewhere along the way, I figured out that maybe I could test stitch some designs on a scrap of fabric. Then I realized I could make the stitches along the vertical direction of the fabric, which would fit nicely with the print pattern.

I spoke with a friend who would have just started stitching. Apparently, I’m an information gatherer. Surely there’s someone out there, who’s figured this out—who knows the very best way to do it. I better search for that best approach.

In the end, I got a few pointers from the online class, combined it with a wealth of experience, decided it didn’t need to be perfect, and started stitching.

Guess what! The recipient has pronounced it perfect.

What am I getting at? We all have unique ways of learning and doing. And, one of the things I’ve learned from the Feldenkrais Method, is that humans can generalize. We learn something in one context and it’s available for application in another.

In Feldenkrais, coaching and felt-making, I’ve noticed that the more I experience in these modalities, the more I can see connections to doing what I want to do in all arenas of my life. All that makes it very fun to improvise—to use my breadth of knowledge and experience in new and creative ways. Somehow, it also makes it easier to experiment, to risk making mistakes along the way. It’s fun—and often, magical.

Here’s what’s up:

Our weekly online Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement isn’t in person, but it does bring a sense of doing something worthwhile, in the company of other humans. And, usually improves our breathing. And, it’s Free/Pay as You Wish.

For an in-person experience, I’m offering Lift Your Heart: A Feldenkrais Mini-Retreat on Saturday afternoon, February 28, at the Jung Center of Houston.

If you’d like to work with me privately, in person or online—Feldenkrais, coaching or felt-making—you can Book an Appointment or reply to this email and let me know what you’re interested in.