Stitching

Jessica Savage continues her series of charts you can stitch to award yourself – and reminds us of the power of kindness to others

with Jess

Hullo! This month’s award-winning pa ern (see what I did there?) centres on something we can all do to make everyone’s lives be er. The more we do this with wild abandon, the be er the world is! And I don’t mean spending the evening drinking wine and cross stitching (although that is obviously amazing). I mean doing goPoadge for the sake of doing good.

In a world that's made space for self-aggrandisement, prejudice towards others and discontent, giving of yourself (in a healthy, sustainable way, of course!) helps to break down social and personal barriers, shrug off biases, and create stronger bonds of community.

The best place to start with these things is usually with skills you already have. Cross stitch is a wonderful example as it’s accessible, easy to learn, and a lot of fun! Start a local stitch group to help people make new friends and develop a new skill. Take your stitching passion to nursing homes and spend some time with needlework enthusiasts. Or just reach out to someone who is having trouble with French knots and help them overcome the challenge.

Some people may seem to not appreciate kind gestures in the moment, but (like anyone who has raised teenagers knows) it’s likely that these are not ‘bad people’, they’re just having a bad day. Our kindness should not be subject to others being kind in return; we should be kind because it is a good thing to do and when next we suffer from a bad day, someone else’s reckless good might turn our day around. When you are having a bad day, remember to do some reckless good for yourself as well! Have a delicious meal, get a massage, carve out time for yourself. You can’t help others when you need to recharge.

The actions of the many have strength beyond measure. If we’re brave e1nough to make good anXd kSinTd3t5he6 standard, we can create a future to be proud of.

So, if you have some goodness spare, give it a try! Offer someone new to cross stitch a spare skein of floss or pick up wine on the way home to share with loved ones ‘just because’. Or start up a cross-stitch club, create a local clean-up group, or invent a new and renewable form of energy that will save humanity.

oGr somoadll, all good is worthy. Stitch boldy!

Jess