My hands followed their hands. We knit and purled, purled and knit. And after a time, something interesting started to happen. My focus narrowed; my mind felt a little splash of ease. In all my decades of staying busy, I had always presumed that my head was fully in charge of everything, including telling my hands what to do. It hadnt really ever occurred to me to let things flow the opposite way. But thats what knitting did. It reversed the flow. It buckled my churning brain into the back seat and allowed my hands to drive the car for a while. It detoured me away from my anxiety, just enough to provide some relief. Any time I picked up those needles, Id feel the rearrangement, my fingers doing the work, my mind trailing behind.

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama