Part of the charm is that it's simply relaxing. As much as possible, I clear my schedule, so that I can watch all the sessions (two sessions each day on Saturday and Sunday, for a total of 8 hours). I don't go to the church building at all - I sit on the couch in our living room, in my comfiest clothes, watching TV (guilt-free!).
In addition, conference provides direction and motivation. I need church each week, to help me refocus on life's real priorities, on becoming more Christlike. I find it so easy to simply drift with the current. General Conference weekend offers mega-focusing. I watch the sessions, and listen for specific guidance and instruction that will resonate with my situation, that will trigger some new idea within me, that will push me in the way I particularly need to be pushed.
Sometimes, I feel sad; not depressed, just sad. I can't pin down any particular reason - it's a feeling of melancholy, or maybe the sense that I'm doing everything wrong (I can usually talk myself down from that silliness); often it is just an unnamed ache that makes it hard to focus on anything constructive. Sometimes I look around at all the people in a room with me, and marvel that we are in the same place, and yet we are most definitely not having the same experience.
Fortunately, I can usually push through these blue periods. The mood lifts, and on I go.
General Conference always is a positive experience for me. I have never felt that sadness come on during conference. It has always been a safe and comforting haven for me, and I look forward to that again. (I hope I'm not lying here, and conveniently forgetting past experiences...)
So, bring on conference weekend!
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| President Monson and his counselors will be among the speakers. |
I like to have a notebook with me when I watch conference. I don't take copious notes (after all, texts of the talks are available online, within days), but I make note of comments that seem pertinent to me, talks that I'll want to put at the top of my list to reread, and so forth.
I like to have plenty of knitting on hand, as well. Knitting - as long as it's not too complicated a project - helps me stay focused on the speakers.
I currently have three projects in the works, all of which are candidates for conference knitting. (I've done some swatching for a fourth project, A Promise of Socks, but it's still in an early stage, and so doesn't really count).
Hope They Like Blue
This baby blanket is nearly finished. I made and washed a small swatch, and planned the blanket accordingly. But I've now knit more repeats than I planned, and used just 2/3 of the yarn I planned, and I think it's almost finished - proof that Swatches Lie. When I finish the current pattern repeat, I'll spread it out and measure it, and maybe I will call it done!
Bridge Walk Flynn
When Lori and I went to Mackinac Island last September, I had Lori pick a skein of souvenir yarn (at Alford's). She subsequently picked a hat pattern (Flynn), which I test-knitted, and now I am finally knitting her hat. At this point, most of each round is purling, and about 1/4 of each round is the cable pattern - but that 1/4 round is confusing enough that I mostly reserve this for knitting at home. It's progressing nicely, and I should wrap it up in the relatively near future.
A Sock for Your Head
I've been wanting to make the sockhead hat for some time now. It is very simple knitting - 2x2 ribbing, followed by miles of stockinette stitch - so it's good for knitting in public. I was desperate for such a project, so one day grabbed a skein of Plymouth Yarn Sakkie that I had in my stash. Frankly, it is yarn that I really don't like (merino / mohair / nylon - not my favorite fiber blend), but I am hopeful that someone will like the hat that it becomes. And meanwhile, it gives my hands something to knit on when I'm out and about.
Finally, in case you need a beagle fix, here's a photo from a couple weeks ago.
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| One happy beagle! |
My hat is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (and that's a very cool hat holder you have there)!
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