an antidote to stress
creativity is the antidote to stress
*christopher lowell*
words, that I am beginning to think have alot of truth - I completed a quilt while going through the stress of a marriage breakup many years ago.
I wonder if this is the reason why women often made socks & jumpers for soldiers during world war 2 and is it why women make blankets for orphans of war? Or teddy bears for the trauma unit here in our local town. is the antidote the reason that women rush to the oven to bake cakes when there is a crisis? why Tara from Paris Parfait is making chocolate chip cookies? or why Peggy keeps making her haven with her animals. Or why each of us has an urge to create something - whether it be art, a garden or a nest for our loved ones? Is it because we feel that by creating 'something' we are helping the 'cause'? is it to numb our mind or keep our hands busy?
posted by Miss Robyn | 6:04 am
8 Comments:
Very profound thoughts Robyn! I have been baking cupcakes like mad the last week. Do you have a spell or something to bring rain? We are dying here.
When I'm under stress and need to keep my mind busy, I bake...sometimes my freezer is so full of my baking, my boys love coming home and being able to bring it all to their place! lol
Yep, we all deal with stress in different ways. I cook and eat. hehe.
A very interesting post Robyn. And something I have thought about a lot recently.
I know that I create to help balance out my more left handed job as an administrator and for the joy of it!!! If I am tired or stressed creativity takes me to a special, calm and joyous place. Knowing I am making something that may bring a smile to a friend, or a potential new friend is a wonderful thing.
And, I don't think it is a coincidence that more and more people are taking up creativity. Whether it be gardening, a home or art.I think we are all looking at a way of balancing out the horrors in the world too. Taking ourselves back to a more simple way of life.
I have found that the more create, the more I grow as a person too. The more I peel back layers. And have found it great therapy to help me through the hard times.
I love seeing what others art reveals about who they are too. What people create speaks volumes about their soul and spirit.
Great post and one I can identify with. With hearing that the UK foiled a multiple airplane attack this morning, with it all headed to the US, I feel inclined to dust, tidy and rearrange. Grounding things.
Thanks for writing this!
Actually, making cookies is a bad example of the way I handle stress. Preferably, I work on a decoupage or create some kind of art or rearrangement vignettes in my apartment or do something with my plants on the balcony. Making cookies is a very temporary stress-reliever, because after I eat them, I feel guilty because of the calories! The other stress-relievers (and I forgot going for walks and riding my bike) don't have the bad after-effects. :)
Hey Rosa...I am with you on the kitchen duty...the kitchen is the heart of a home... ( you have a lovely one by the way) after 9-11 there was a resurgence of comfort food cooking and kitchen re-makes and even cafes sprang up to feed the recovery crews at ground zero. Food is basic and nuturing...I'll just leave the top button undone on my jeans...
For me it is the nesting instinct, Robyn. I'm not the world's best housekeeper, but I feel immense satisfaction when I have cleaned the home of one of my elderly or disabled clients. When I've finished a piece of needlework (for me or a friend), again I get a comfortable feeling of adding something pleasant to a house.
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