Latest / Loose Threads & Stitches: A Quilting Podcast / Episode 39: Finding Joy in Your Quilting Again (Even When Life Feels Heavy)

Transcript

Episode 39: Finding Joy in Your Quilting Again (Even When Life Feels Heavy) · Loose Threads & Stitches: A Quilting Podcast

• 0:07
  Okay.
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  Hey there.
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  We have been deep in the podcast lately.
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  We have been thoughtful, we have been reflective.
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  But today.
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  Today we're going to take a break, okay?
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  We're not going to analyze anything.
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  We're not going to unpack any like, major psychology or anything like that.
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  We are not going to talk about moving targets.
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  We're going to talk about tiny things, little bitty sparks
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  and those small moments that make you go, ooh, I love that.
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  We're talking about glimmers today.
• 0:40
  Hey there.
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  Welcome back to the Loose Threads and Stitches podcast.
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  We have just wrapped up the first half of the enough chapter,
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  and I have loved every steady, thoughtful minute of it,
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  but I was kind of getting the feeling like I was just pouring down all this
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  heavy thought processes,
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  and I just want to touch on something a little bit lighter today
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  and just kind of like, take a moment to breathe in with you and just,
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  relax a minute, okay?
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  So let's let's not, not go too deep today.
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  We're just going to have some fun. So,
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  this space has always been a calm corner of the world for me.
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  And this is my happy little bubble of creativity.
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  It's a place to breathe, a place to notice beauty.
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  And today we are going to lean all the way into that.
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  We are going to talk about glimmers.
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  Like I said, no life overhauls, no
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  productivity wins, no glow ups, just tiny,
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  ordinary, delicious moments that make life feel really good.
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  So if you are here for cozy joy, you are in the right place.
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  I'm Kristen with IK Stars Quilting.
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  Let's go!
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  You may have heard the word glimmer floating around lately,
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  and it's actually it's very simple, and a glimmer is a tiny moment
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  that sparks calm, joy or safety.
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  There's no fireworks.
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  There's no big milestone.
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  There's not a huge breakthrough.
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  It's just a flicker, a flash of, hey, that feels really nice.
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  And here's the thing glimmers are absolutely everywhere.
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  We just forget to look for them.
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  So today we're going to talk about them and, see how we can find
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  some more glimmers in our life.
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  Okay, so let me tell you my favorite glimmers,
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  because I have been collecting them like tiny little treasures
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  for quite a while now, especially on the days when I'm feeling
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  a little bit blue or like I'm just not quite myself.
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  I know that that is my cue to start looking for those little glimmers in life
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  and, really remind myself to be more present
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  and more aware and more thankful of the blessings that I do have.
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  So some my favorite little glimmers are the sound of really sharp fabric
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  scissors slicing cleanly through cotton
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  that smooth, satisfying like.
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  I am not doing a very good job.
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  Mimicking that noise, but that was one that I just.
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  I love when I have really good sharp fabric scissors.
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  Okay, that is an elite sound, right there.
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  A perfectly wound bobbin, especially if I like think ahead.
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  And I have 3 or 4 of them ready to go before I start a quilting project
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  so I don't have to stop like mid piecing and do another bobbin that it looks
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  so tidy and hopeful and so like product productivity is on the way.
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  Okay.
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  The way the afternoon sunlight hits my sewing table about 345 in the afternoon.
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  Okay.
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  And suddenly everything looks like a magazine spread.
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  Like, I love that afternoon light.
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  Now, it might be very messy still, but at least it has good lighting, right?
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  Rearranging a shelf
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  for absolutely no reason, and then standing back and looking at it
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  like I just redesigned a museum exhibit like it?
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  Tell me. Right.
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  Like other people do, that. Okay.
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  Like you just redesign things and make them really nice and fresh
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  and just it adds a newness to your space.
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  It adds a freshness in there.
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  Okay.
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  Another glimmer is the hum of my sewing machine when it's stitching very evenly.
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  Like I've got the same pace going with my foot pedal.
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  That low, steady rhythm.
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  It feels like everything is working okay.
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  Everything is going good, I'm being really good and I'm
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  being very on top of keeping track of where my needle is. And,
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  it's just it's beautiful.
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  Right?
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  Another glimmer would be a warm
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  mug in my hands before anyone else in the house is awake.
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  Yeah, that's just that quiet.
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  Peace.
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  Before everything goes a little crazy again, right?
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  That that quiet peace and that warmness that just kind of comforting.
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  A little bit of a hug in your hands, if you will.
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  All right.
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  None of these things are big.
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  And these are just like ones that I came up with
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  that are kind of sewing related.
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  And none of them change my life entirely. Right?
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  But they change my mood when I notice them
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  and really and truly like mood matters.
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  Okay, so it why glimmers are magic.
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  Let's go into this.
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  We often think that we need big, big wins to feel better.
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  Okay, we need like I, I'm just dying to go on a vacation
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  or there's like a milestone or like a specific goal
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  that you have to reach before you can feel better.
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  A finished quilt, a cleared to do list.
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  Even though I very much am a like pen to paper type of To-Do
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  list person, I love to scratch things off once they're done, but
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  you know it doesn't have to be all the way done before you feel better.
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  Okay, if your nervous system
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  responds to small signals of safety okay,
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  warmth, light, rhythm, texture, familiar sounds, glimmers
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  are these tiny reminders that goodness is already present.
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  It is always with you.
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  The glimmers don't fix the problems, but they kind of soften the edges.
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  And I think as creative people,
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  we're actually very good at noticing them.
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  Okay?
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  We already pay attention to color, we already pay attention to detail,
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  and we already pay attention to tiny variations in fabric.
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  Like, you know,
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  whether you have been sewing for a little while or for a long time,
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  you already have a sense of tone and darkness
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  and light in which color pairings go really well together.
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  Okay, we are glimmer hunters by nature.
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  So here is your assignment today.
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  Okay,
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  except it's not really like an assignment, and it's not like homework or anything
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  because you are a fully grown human
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  and you were able to do whatever you like to do in life.
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  All right.
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  But what I would like to challenge you to do
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  is to just notice the things around you.
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  I want you to catch just one glimmer, just one.
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  Even if you're like, listening to this right now,
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  just take a second and look around.
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  Maybe it's like the way that your iron steams perfectly right now.
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  Maybe you got a text from somebody unexpected this morning.
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  Maybe it's the smell of, like, fresh cut fruit in the summertime.
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  A pen that writes really, really smoothly.
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  I know I'm not the only one who has a favorite pen in my house.
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  Okay, like I want that one.
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  And if anybody takes that pen from the spot where I keep it,
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  I will go hunt them down and find it again.
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  Okay, that's my pen.
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  Or maybe you notice
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  your dog like how they just dramatically stretch.
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  Like they just woke up from a ten year nap, right?
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  And it's so cute, right?
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  They're so cute when they do that.
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  I just want you to notice those things.
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  I want you to just pause for a moment and let that goodness kind of just
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  infiltrate your body and kind of, allow that glow inside of your body.
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  Let it count. Okay.
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  Now other glimmers in life can be everything from, like I said,
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  an unexpected text from a friend or like you see a rainbow.
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  I my family, we love to rainbow hunt.
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  Like after it rains, there is a certain light
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  that kind of comes over the backyard and it's rainbow weather
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  and you will catch me outside every single time going
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  rainbow hunting because I love to find those.
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  They just they make me happy. All right.
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  And then like, maybe it's finding a really good restaurant
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  or being able to get in without having a reservation.
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  Or maybe your coffee was especially good this morning because
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  you added just a little bit of extra what was left in the creamer?
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  Okay, those are glimmers, and those little things are what make just
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  life a little bit more,
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  a little bit more sparkly.
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  Okay, so this series that we've been doing in the past,
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  you know, five weeks or so has been about enough,
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  and it feels really right for me to say this, that enough
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  isn't always found in achievements.
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  Okay?
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  Sometimes it's found in the tiny
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  flickers of goodness that surround us in life.
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  So here is what I would really love for you today.
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  When you finish this episode, would you just leave me a comment
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  and tell me one glimmer from your day to day?
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  Just one.
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  It doesn't have to be impressive.
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  It doesn't have to be Polish.
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  It doesn't have to be a three paragraph essay or anything like that.
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  It doesn't have to be you being productive,
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  something small that made you smile.
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  I would love to hear it.
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  Maybe it was the way that like your thread color matched perfectly.
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  Maybe it was your first sip of coffee.
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  Maybe it was, a conversation that you had with a friend last night
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  that just sat really well and just made you, made you feel good.
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  All right.
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  Maybe it's the quiet hum of your sewing machine, like I mentioned earlier.
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  Or maybe it's just the sunshine on your kitchen floor.
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  Maybe your cat was really, really sweet this morning when normally
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  he's a mess.
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  Okay, you know, I really want to hear it.
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  So let's collect those and let the comment section of this
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  be a space where we, can kind of collect
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  the calm corner of the world. Okay.
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  A place to make, a place to breathe, a place to notice these glimmers.
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  Tell me yours.
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  Because I would love, love, love to hear them.
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  And I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day to day.
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  Notice some more of those glimmers.
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  Take that moment to breathe and pause, especially
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  when you're in, like, a really hurried, kind of crazy, state.
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  Okay, take that moment to pause and just breathe and let that warmth
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  and that joy go inside you and then emanate out from you as well.
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  So thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast.
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  I'm Kristen with IK
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  Stars Quilting, and this is a Loose Threads and Stitchers podcast.
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  We will be starting again back with the enough series,
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  and I have so much more that I want to tell you.
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  I cannot wait to share that with you.
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  I will talk to you soon. Have a great rest of your day.
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  You.