Another orbit around the sun

 Today is the day I start another orbit around the sun, and I've been thinking.

I've been panicking about the end of the year and how few things I've managed to finish this year, and about all the things I want to stitch, and about how I'm definitely getting older and how much time do I have left to finish all my to-do lists . . . 

I saw a post on Instagram from someone who had kitted up all the projects she wants to stitch in 2026. She had a very elaborate shelving system with a tray for each project. I counted 24. And then there was a later post where she showed the auxiliary shelves with room for at least 6 more projects, maybe more, for anything else that might come her way in 2026.

I've listened to Flosstubers talking about doing a project a month, and all the SALs that are starting up, and goals, and finishes.

I thought to myself--wouldn't it be fun to do a Twelve Days of Christmas thing, where I pick out 12 projects (obviously) and work on one each day, beginning on Christmas and ending with the last on January 5, Then I would commit to finishing each of them in the New Year.

That is when I realized that I'm still in work mode, setting goals and ticking off to-do lists, and stressing when things aren't coming together the way I want them to.

Full stop.

This is not the way to spend ones Golden Years.

I have now decided that my stitching will have no goals, no deadlines, no pressure, no stress. If I don't finish one single thing in 2026, I'm going to enjoy the trip and not worry about any destination. By golly, I'm going to enjoy stitching again, if it kills me! I'll still take classes because I can't not take classes, but I'm going to try to pull a few more things out of the stash that I've wanted to play with for years. I'm going to do my best to get over FOMO.

The only thing I want to do is to stitch every day with the understanding that if I don't feel like working on the project I started on in the morning, I can set it down and pick up something else, or two other something elses, and it's OK if I stick a needle in 14 different things in the course of the day, as long as I'm having fun.

Meanwhile, I pulled out a project from a year or so ago, and I've added this to the three other pieces on my worktable that have gold threads in them. It is definitely the sparkly season around here!

Lizzie Pye's Hummingbird in Silk and Gold was an online project EGA offered. I ran across the project box while I was trying to organize myself the other day and decided it was time to pull it out. I am in the midst of plunging threads. I would like to mention that this is not one of my favorite things to do in goldwork, but the finished project looks absolutely wonderful when it's done.

But today I may put another Christmas ornament together so it will have time to shine on the Christmas tree.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I am thinking about going stash diving for a smaller sampler to use as a Blessing Sampler. Yes, I know that it's supposed to be finished by the end of January and I said no goals--but if it just happens to get finished in a month, I'll consider myself blessed and move on. If not, so what?)