The Backside of Things.

Do you remember that quote from the 1994 movie, Forrest Gump? "My momma always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.'"

Those words resonated with me back then. Clever. Witty. And spot on.

Life certainly is unpredictable. In both wonderful and challenging ways.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve also come up with my own life analogy:

Life is like an embroidery project.

Let me explain.

A while back, I set out to find a project to keep my hands and fingers nimble. I’ve always been pretty good with my hands – drawing, painting, even playing the piano. But a few extra decades on them have made them not quite as nimble as they used to be.

I even asked ChatGPT for suggestions. And at the top of the list for a variety of reasons? Embroidery.

So I purchased a Sampler Kit. A seemingly simple way, I thought, to learn the basic stitches. Stitches with words like cross stitch, seed stitch, running stitch, fly stitch – well the list goes on and on.

And off I went to master, so I thought, stitch number one: the chain stitch.

· Come up in spot 1.

· Go down in spot 2.

· Come up at 3 – a stitch length away from and opposite 1 and 2.

· Bring the thread through and as you do so, catch the loop of the thread – but don’t pull too tight.

And I was supposed to do this 21 times.

While I didn’t time myself (thankfully), I know I spent over two hours trying to figure out what the heck I was doing wrong. Over and over.

The finished product looked nothing like the photograph I was using. So I set it aside, frustrated, and told myself to let it be. Maybe it would be a good reminder, as I worked my way through the remaining 20-some stitches, of how far I had progressed from my lackluster start.

The next day, when I pulled the sampler out, I looked at my previous day’s effort and thought to myself, “This is actually embarrassing.” And I ripped every single bit of it out.

Over the coming weeks I worked my way through the entire sampler. Some stitches were relatively simple (I love you, cross stitch). Others, well, let’s just say the French knot was NOT my friend.

But the real surprise for me was how messy and difficult it was to manage and master the backside of the canvas, the part where you begin and finish each stitch. My instructions didn’t address this at all. And, candidly, I was too lazy to research it on Google or YouTube.

So I tried to figure it out myself.

And that’s when I started to think about the connection to life.

The front side of my work, the part you can see, looks okay for a beginner. Actually, I’m proud of myself.

But the backside, goodness, is a trainwreck. When I look at it, I remember so many moments when I was at wit’s end.

· Figuring out how to tie off a thread when one stitch was complete.

· Dealing with threads that somehow intertwine and bring the entire project to a halt.

· Getting the needle from point A to point B, a mere 1” away, but requiring me to squirrel the needle under 4 of 5 existing stitches.

But maybe that’s my point about comparing embroidery to life. The hard work isn’t always visible.

Maybe that's what gets us to something we're proud of.

So, yeah, I’m proud of my embroidery sampler. Front. And back.

Because now I know what went into both.

Don’t be asking me to fill any orders in the near future, however.

I’m taking a break for a bit.

I bet you could use one, too.

Jim Higley is the co-founder of Puffer Hug, a company whose mission is to connect the world with kindness, one hug at a time. Learn more about Puffer Hug here.

Looking Back #3: Gasp.