knitting a scattered mind together

It's the middle of the night. I can't sleep. Not yet. Re-adjusting to being in school again is taking a little time. Especially when my mind is remembering how to wrap itself around some of the more complex things I'm learning right now. Articulating my own opinions is not always easy.

This week, I had to read an article which discussed some of the important factors in formulating a theory of language, and then either contrast it with another viewpoint, or describe my own. I don't know another approach well enough to argue it, so I chose my own. And then I got stuck. I pulled up my old philosophy of language paper in which I had tried to answer the question, "What is language?" For a twenty-year-old without a lot of experience or knowledge, I think I did a pretty good job, but my opinions have changed slightly since that time. I'm still sort of leaning towards integrational linguistics, but I need to do more reading in that field. And Toolan's Total Speech is not a book I can find and read in a hurry. I was still stuck.

So, I picked up the pointy sticks. I needed to do a swatch for a sweater anyway, so I started knitting. And the block slowly disappeared. I could write. It was still a struggle. I have a long way to go before I can explain language theory with ease. Yet, I could write. I have something that is half-way decent.

Something about the calming action of knitting helps me stop trying so hard to think, and lets my mind do what it needs to do.

Now I can go to bed.