When I was in 9th grade I got into competition Cross Stitch. You probably had no idea you could win awards in Cross Stitch (a type of embroidery), but you can!
I had only been a hobbyist up to that point and to compete I had to step up my game. For instance, when tying off a thread on the back of the design, you couldn't just tie off anywhere, or leave ends waving in the breeze. You had to neatly tuck them behind the previous stitches so that the back looked almost as good as the front.
To this day, when friends get to see the work before it is framed, they look at the back and say, “How do you do that! It looks almost like the front!” Practice of course 😉
I thought about this when I committed to getting into the habit of closing loops this week.
At first tucking the ends of my threads seemed a pain and to take so much longer. I had to choose a nearby spot where the tension of the neighboring threads would hold my end. That took planning and finesse.
But after I got the hang of it, it was so much easier. My eye saw exactly where to go and slipping the needle thru one row and snipping took much less time and effort than looping around and around for a knot.
Closing loops is like that. What is closing loops?
Closing loops is tucking those threads, snipping and starting a new thread.
The more projects we have open, the more little pieces of us are dangling in the wind – like loose threads – or porcupine quills.
As an entrepreneur, of course I have several ongoing projects. As a consultant, of course I have ongoing clients.
What used to also have was all these little threads and feelers of Someday and Maybe and I'll get back to you dangling in the wind and taking up little bits of me.
When I commit to closing loops, I commit to giving each of those little threads and feelers closure. I reach as far as my thread/design can go and I close off that string. It doesn't mean that the design is finished. It does mean that my engagement with that piece of the design has come to an end.
Will I work with that project or person again? Probably, if the design allows.
But I won't invest little bits of myself in that possibility. I honor the time and beauty of the design and the closure of that string. I take the action I need to tuck that end and snip that thread so that I can move on 100%
And I don't leave it dangling in the breeze, tangling in the wind on the hopes that someday I'll finish it.
It's time to Nip and Tuck and move on my friend 🙂

Namaste,