Making Macrame

What's New in Macrame This week I finished my project of the half circle wall hanger from Hobby Lobby. It's neat for me to be able to see the lines where I started compared to the last two to three lines where I finally was able to get the hang of the macrame techniques this project required. I misplaced the instructions to see how to finish the project, so I decided to create my own way to end it by using the last strands on either end of the wood dowel to make a hanger for it, and then I unraveled the ends of the macrame cord so it would have more of a relaxed look. My main goal for this project was to be able to finish it to the best of my abilities and not worry about it turning out perfectly, so I am feeling proud of myself for accomplishing this even though there were times when I debated completely starting over. My task for this week will be to go to Hobby Lobby again to pick up some more macrame cord and officially start on my next project. After browsing YouTube for i...

Occupation and Spirituality As discussed in class last week, spirituality can play a large role in the meaning we find in our occupations, and our occupations can also play a large role in spirituality. Spiritual experiences don't have to be limited to being within an organized religious institution, but rather can be activities or environments in which we find a deep sense of meaning (Wengerd, 2022). Some examples of occupations which could be spiritual include gardening, spending time in nature, talking with a loved one, or even household chores. For me personally, I sometimes find a spiritual connection my own meaningful occupations. One occupation I take a lot of pride in is being a "dog mom" to my border collie girl named Artie, and interacting with her provides somewhat of a spiritual experience as I have the opportunity to take care of her needs and feel gratitude for the joy she brings into my life. I would say that I am overall a spiritual person, so I think this...

I'm excited to share that I have made some progress with my macrame project this week. The Hobby Lobby kit I purchased came with one long macrame cord, so I first had to cut eight long cords and seven shorter length cords from the original to begin my project. Next, I continued to follow the instructions for how to start which were provided with the kit. Initially, I was really confused as the instructions were difficult to follow. There was one instruction in particular where it asks you to add a cord onto the right side of the dowel, but in the image for that step, it shows the new cord on the left side. It then directed me to do a specific knot going to the right, but the image showed something completely different. After some trial and error, feelings of frustration, and searching supplementary YouTube videos, I was eventually able to figure out which direction I needed to add the additional string and how to tie the adjacent knots. Throughout this past week I've experience...

The new occupation I will be learning this semester is attempting different styles of macrame art. I have always loved the aesthetic look of macrame, but I have never attempted to make my own. This past week, I bought a macrame kit at my local Hobby Lobby store and my plan is to start with this since it has specific instructions and materials, so I am hopeful I won't get too far lost in the weeds. In the assigned readings for this past week, Reker and Wong have shown how the meaning we place on different occupations lies along a continuum, ranging from meaning we place ourselves versus the meaning society gives an occupation. Reker and and Wong have termed those on the self-defined meaning side of the continuum as "individualists" and those on the society-defined end as "conformists" (Hasselkus & Dickie, 2021, p. 4). For me, the meaning I hold behind the occupation of making macrame is somewhere in the middle. I was first introduced to macrame art from diffe...