Cross-Stitch Conundrums
Think about someone’s People Pattern before you get into hot water.
Think about someone’s People Pattern before you get into hot water.
Don’t make my mistakes. I don’t know if it is an Enthusiast trait or a Katie trait, but if I’m doing an activity, I want to recommend it. Knitting? I recommend it (especially if you know how to count). Crochet—which I absolutely cannot master for some reason—I recommend if you have the ability to think in 3D. Nixonland? Great book. Read it! But sometimes, I’m just thinking about me and not the person to whom I’m recommending things. This is why, unintentionally, I have driven at least two Organizers up a wall. My sister and my best friend are both Organizers. They share similarities beyond that (they’re both Scorpios with red hair and amazing detective skills), but they’re definitely Organizers. Each one has, at one point, traveled to a different city just to help me move.
My favorite thing about cross-stitch is how easy it is. You can’t get super better or super worse.
A few years ago, I got into cross-stitch. If you’ve never crafted before, cross-stitch is the perfect craft. It is cheap. There are patterns on Etsy for less than $5 to fulfill any pop culture niche. But, primarily, my favorite thing about cross-stitch is how easy it is. You can’t get super better or super worse. It is just making x’s with thread on fabric until you get a picture. Armed with the meditative benefits of cross-stitch, I recommended it widely. My sister and best friend (like true Organizers) took me up on it. Two weeks later, both called me and complained. I had given them, they said, an impossible task. I had, they told me, driven them into a spiral. They could not stop cross-stitching—not because they enjoyed it, but because they felt obligated to. Organizers—it turns out—only like activities where they can get better. External markers of growth are important to them, even in hobbies. The more you know. Don’t make my mistakes. Don’t recommend your Enthusiast friend do a hobby that absolutely needs to be finished on a deadline (like refinishing the house’s only bathroom). Truth Tellers can’t be forced into tea parties where they need to keep their opinions to themselves. Seekers don’t want to be the only person on Earth with their interest. Cultivators already know all their favorite hobbies thankyouverymuch. Think about someone’s People Pattern before you get into hot water.