It was December 24, 2005 and I was spending the holiday in Florida with my oldest brother and his wife. We were relaxing one afternoon, I was reading and she was sewing. I began to think about my mother. My sister-in-law, Rae, was a sewer and my mother was a knitter. As I reflected on the difference between sewing and knitting I began to think about ‘Thread & Yarn.’
Thread & Yarn: ‘Thread’ (the string-like material one sews with) and ‘Yarn’ (the string-like material one knits with); they convey, among other things, different degrees of flexibility.
Thread holds together and restricts, while yarn stretches and gives.
Thread is the overall theme that gives meaning to our words and thoughts – so, to lose the thread is to become confused and promotes inattentiveness.
A yarn is a long, sometimes seemingly pointless, but usually engaging story whose facts have been relegated to a secondary position in the story (I, for one, never let the facts interfere with a good story I am telling).
It can be more relaxing to listen to a good yarn than a lecture whose thread we have to follow; many times it is for me.
So, what does all of this have to do with such things as retreats and renewals? And what does all of this have to do with leadership development? And what does all of this have to do with how one lives his/her life? Good Questions deserving a response — perhaps deserving a good yarn or a good lecture, or both.
On the other hand, perhaps if we hold onto both metaphors we will discern a ‘third way’ — a ‘both/and’ way — rather than an ‘either/or’ (thread or yarn) way. If we hold the question and ‘live the question’ then perhaps someday a new metaphor will emerge that we can use to capture the wonder and power of ‘thread and yarn’ as combined and integrated wholes. . . perhaps. What do we have to lose? What do we have to gain?
In life, as in sewing and knitting, we need both ‘thread’ and ‘yarn.’ Perhaps we also need a ‘third-way,’ a ‘both-and’ way. . .another ‘perhaps’ for us to consider.
Excuse me Gentle Reader, I must step aside as I sense fragments of a good yarn emerging and I want to see if I can thread them together into a seamless whole.
Searcher-Seeker 