One Moment | The Ommmmm of Dyeing

It’s a blustery Sunday afternoon, and I was rinsing out a bunch of swatches that I dyed for the last session of my online class. While looking at each color, some of which were new and exciting to me, my mind travelled near and far. I got to think about where I was going with this particular lesson, how I would assemble the table to be made, and I had an awesome idea of a new way to assemble it, and where it would hang when done. I was  able to: work out the pros and cons of this new assembly, figure out what extra material I’d have to dye, weighed whether or not this new idea was worth the extra effort, and decided YES it was, all while rinsing out swatches.

Over the past 13 years I have spent a LOT of time standing in front of a sink, rinsing fabric. It is a chore that could be quite tedious, but yet most times I find it, maybe not exciting, but quite fulfilling. The running water forces me to be present in the moment, as I try my best not to waste too much of this precious commodity, so I focus on the task at hand. But the lack of concentration needed at this point in the dyeing process allows my mind to travel down new roads, often inspired by the colors I see.

It is probably the closest thing to meditation that I will ever get. The idea of sitting in a room and doing nothing – well that kinda freaks me out! But rinsing out fabric? That I do – often. And the insights I sometimes get when doing are so welcome in my life! And right now, that aqua-ish color in the front left of the picture is calling my name!

alamodestuff Linda has started a weekly meetup based on taking a moment each week to really notice something as you go about your daily grind life. I need to do this. You may want to too – read more about it here: