Repetition
Sometimes, repetition is soothing. On the right day, actions like inputting my receipts into online tool wesabe can be very soothing. It’s the same keystrokes and mouse movements over again for each receipt that I enter. At the end of the process I feel calmed and soothed. There is an order to the repetition that I like. It disentangles my brain in some way.
On other days – like today for instance, where my stress and anxiety levels are high – I can’t even contemplate using something like wesabe, even though I’m weeks behind on entering my receipts. On days like today, repetition feels too complex. It feels like too much of an effort, and so I don’t do it.
If I could persuade the malfunctioning executive function aspect of my brain to let me start to process my receipts, would I get into the swing of it and ultimately feel soothed? I suspect so – but the persuading is difficult to do, and I tend to follow my natural instincts and do what feels best on days like this. Which is to do very little.
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3 Responses to “Repetition”
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Sparrow on August 24th, 2009 Sparrow(Quote)
You’ve hit upon one of the reasons I knit. The repetition is very soothing to me. And there are different projects for different stress levels. A straight stockinette knit might be boring on a day I’m feeling calm but incredibly soothing in its simplicity when I’m in an uproar.
On days when stockinette is too simple, I might go for a lace pattern. The repeating pattern turns into a song in my head “knit knit yarn over knit purl purl knit2tog” and soothes me like ocean waves rhythmically breaking on the shore.
Days when I really need a good challenge, something similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle perhaps, I might go for a multi-color intarsia knit where I have to consult a chart and count stitches and change colors often. But still underlying it all is the repetition of “knit knit knit knit knit.”
That puzzle-solving is another reason I knit. I love to design my own patterns, which requires spatial reckoning and lots of arithmetic. It’s so satisfying when I can take pen to paper and create something out of nothing.
And so satisfying when the finished piece fits perfectly because I’ve used the math to sort out the measures and designed everything perfectly for me. It’s so rare that store-bought clothes fit comfortably and well and feel soft and comfortable. I can make socks with no toe seams out of the softest alpaca blend wool. I’m currently working on a pair of toe socks to wear with my new Vibram Fivefinger shoes I ordered for greater comfort and proprioception (the shoes have toes and thus regular socks won’t fit under them.) I’ve bought some athletic socks with toes from Injinji for the shoes but since I like to knit, I figured why not design some toe socks as well.
I’ve strayed off topic a bit, but I do get a bit obsessive about knitting and crocheting. I just wanted to add to your reflections about how repetitive motions are so soothing. Picking up my knitting and getting absorbed in it is like a mini-stress-vacation for me.
James on August 25th, 2009 James(Quote)
Sparrow,
From your detailed description, it seems clear that knitting is also one of your special interests.
It’s nice to see a slightly more unusual special interest for a change!
Sparrow on August 25th, 2009 Sparrow(Quote)
It’s not as unusual as it might seem. Over on Ravelry (a social networking site for knitters and crocheters) we have our own sub-forum for the neurologically diverse and there are a bunch of us who knit and/or crochet. It’s probably my all-time favorite spectrum forum.