Origin of the idea

I work downtown, just a couple of blocks from the Statehouse. I have often thought of spending a lunchtime or two sitting on the benches in the sun on cold days spinning roving into yarn on a drop spindle.

This came to mind for several reasons: I like to spin; spinning in public is usually an opportunity for folks to watch something unfamiliar and interesting; it would be a convenient and productive way to spend a lunch hour, and the Statehouse grounds are the closest park-like place to my office. In addition, there is the wry and sort of playful association with the political spin machine.

Making a subtle comment about political spin by doing actual spinning is sort of fun, even if it points down a road toward negative thoughts. But then I thought about what actual spinning actually does: it twists separate fibers tightly together to make a unified and strong yarn. Now there is a metaphor pointing in a positive direction!

But why spin every day? Is it not enough if we spin now and then for the cloth we need? But then, this would only be a worldly or secular activity. Spinning daily is spiritual; it indicates an inner desire to do what we can for our country. The thread we spin binds us day by day....

-Gandhi