The goal of my life has been to fall in love as much as possible. I used to laughingly say that when I was dating (but I meant it) and even now that I’m very-happily married (is there anything nicer?), I still say it because it’s still true.
I fall in love ALL the time. I fall in love with individuals (as friends, as crushes, as mentors). I fall in love with groups (my new mastermind writers’ group, IMPACT self-defense). I fall in love with people I see waiting at bus stops and sitting in cafes. And obviously, I fall in love with all of my characters. Those last, actually, are usually a slower burn, now that I think about it. Normally I write most of a first draft before I can see them clearly. I’m irritated with them until that moment, and then bam, I’m in mad-delirious love, even with the problem characters.
I fall in love with activities, too: square-foot gardening! Bread baking! Straw-bale gardening! Minimizing! Spinning! Running! Ukulele! Accordion!
I have two brand new loves, and they couldn’t be more different. One is physical and loud, one is introspective and quiet. Both are beautiful.
Kajukenbo
Kajukenbo is a Hawaiian hybrid mixed-martial art, made up of a mishmash of KArate, JUjitso, KENpo, and BOxing. It’s pretty high contact (meaning: hitting! kicking!) and very high intensity. It’s gorgeous, a blend of dancing and fighting, and the Oakland kwoon (school) is just as incredible: a mix of races, genders, and sexual orientations. It feels safe that way. It’s okay to have a girl tummy (big and squooshy and sexy) and fight, too.
The thing is: I’m bad at it. I love things that I’m automatically and quickly good at. The arts tend to come quickly to me. Anything physical is harder, and this is SO physical. Last Thursday night, I wanted to run away. My beginning class was with a substitute, and I wasn’t following her language as well as I did our normal teacher, and it was a millionty degrees in the room, and I just kept thinking, “I could leave. I know no one here. No one but Twitter knows I’m trying to do this. I won’t tell them I left! No one has to know!”
But I want to be someone who says, “I’m a martial artist,” instead of someone who says, “I’d love to be a martial artist.” So I stayed. And I’ll keep going. I’m stubborn, thankfully.
And I love the way I feel afterward. I have yoga-eyes when I get out, if that makes sense to you. All floppy and happy, top down on the car on the way home and even more in love with the overhead moon than I was before.
(I just remembered — I don’t know where it came from but when I was little, I had a serious phobia of substitute teachers. My first act of the school day was always to find the yard-monitor teacher and tug on her dress to ask her if my teacher was there that day. If she said no or that she wasn’t sure, I usually threw up. This is true. Apparently I still get nervous around substitutes. Luckily, I didn’t vomit, but it was touch and go there for a minute.)
Alabama Chanin
I know I’m the last to this party, but PEOPLE. I’m in LOVE.
Clothes, made by hand (every little bit, every stitch), to fit, in jersey (because we all live in jersey, or want to). I went to hear Natalie Chanin speak at A Verb for Keeping Warm last week, and I tried on the clothes in the trunk show. Completely unembellished, those clothes fit me better and looked better than anything ever has. I felt like I’d finally found my true style. When your aforementioned soft belly feels like it’s wearing PJs but you know you could go from the office to the garden and then to a party and look great at all the places? Hello. Come to me, darling.
I was a bit worried, getting started. The only crafting thing I hate to do is sew by hand, so I’m not sure why I was so sure I’d love the reverse appliqué method. But I was pretty dang sure I would. Then I started, and I remembered that I’ve always loved embroidery, and that’s all this is. You’re using embroidery methods to hold fabric together. How cool is that?
This is the stencil I cut from felt (using the Blooomers stencil in her first book).
I’m making a 4-gore skirt from thrifted XXXL T-shirts. I cut the eight pieces (two layers) and painted the top layer with fabric paint:
This is an afternoon of Gilmore Girls, more than half a gore’s worth of stitching accomplished.
Eventually, I’ll cut out the middles, like in this swatch:
Ain’t she stunning?
Next week I expect I’ll be obsessed with deep-sea crabbing or ice surfing or something. (Never fear, I’m still in love with writing and knitting. Those remain constant. Hey, in case you missed it, A Life in Stitches* is currently $1.99 in most e-versions! Grab it while you can, if you haven’t read my memoir. Plenty of falling in love there, too. Send one to a friend! Cheaper than buying her a cup of coffee!)
What are you in love with right now?
*affil link
I am always so glad when a notification pops up that you’ve written a blog post — it’s like getting the rare, cherished, handwritten letter in the mail. Now I have to go sew something, you bad influence!
I LURVE Alabama Chanin stuff. I am making a simple sleeveless dress in the same stencil, and adding some beading. I love it so hard. I’ve been working on it on and off for about 3 months, and hope to have it done by this fall.
My next one is going to be the jacket/cardigan thingy.
Thank you so much for sharing!
I was lucky to meet Natalie years ago, before the books and the massive fame, when she was still selling kits from thrifted t-shirts, and I have been smitten ever since. I have piles of AC projects in queue!You should go to The Factory and take a workshop. You would love it!
Rachel,
Today, I am in love with you. I have been on a sewing kick lately with what is referred to as Lagenlook, or layered look. Long and flowy linen tops and skirts, in colors I would never have chosen before. (my closet is an explosion of crazy color) But these are in muted greens and browns and oh, so beautiful. And I have also recently discovered ALabama Chanin and have loved what I have seen so far. I have woman tummy, and bum, and arms and legs and finding patterns for such is not easy. So I make it up as I go along. SO far so good, and I can only improve, right??? Thanks for show and tell.
Ginnie
Seriously. I just finished an A-line dress and I want to live in it… can’t wait to make another (or one of the 20 other projects/ideas floating in my head). I also recently finished AFKW’s Endless Summer Tunic/Dress, using some Alabama Chanin jersey that I over-dyed in indigo (I used a combo of machine & hand sewing for that one) and that pattern, too, fits and feels wonderful. I’ve put an “Alabama Chanin” category on my blog, if you want to check it out… I’ve have made a few tops in different styles using AC techniques (and recycled t-shirts)!
I’m currently I live with the concept of cleaning out my eaves.
But you knew that.
Be still my heart, Alabama Chanin!! A workshop in Berkeley a couple of years back had me head over heels in love with this technique. Then I went home home and I have yet to make anything wearable. I look forward to seeing more of your results. I would love to fall in love with something physical other than keeping myself vertical. I fall in love with the “idea” of this daily. Yesterday I fell in love with QuiGong, today i need to do it. Follow through seems to be an issue.
Keep falling in love Rachael. Your sharing keeps me in the present world of entirely beautiful , fun, creative and interesting people and things out there to experience. xo
Lovely stitching! I love Alabama Chanin and have the Alabama Stitch Book, but I’ve been a bit too chicken to give it a whirl. I KNOW I will at some point, when I’m ready. Seeing how your skirt is turning out is very motivating!
Both new attractions are your Zen practice-movement and focus. Dont’cha love it?
And yes, your puke on the playground sub syndrome had everything to do with your class experience. The difference is, as an adult, when we willingly enter into a contractual educational experience, we are hiring experts to share their knowledge and engage us in study and practice. They are there for you now, grown up girl!
Love the skirt! How’s Bethany’s sweater coming along?
Love everything about love! Martial arts was one I never imagined myself loving as a kid, and now I can’t imagine my life without it. Looking forward to being able to do more of it again after this baby gets here in the fall…
And the skirt! That will be so gorgeous and beautiful and fun and funky. When you wear it and sit at the cafe writing, you will be yourself inside and out.
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