Experiencing Creative Occupations

Day 1: Creative Occupations class - Reflection.

What?

So the purpose of engaging in six weeks of creative occupations is to really feel the effect of participation, "flow" and creativity. Class began with an introduction to the basic steps involved in the art of weaving and we each created a collage of shapes and colours by drawing on inspiration from the images we had chosen prior to class. I think there was a little bit of nervous laughter as each person presented their image and created their collages but all in all it was a comfortable group experience.

So what?

At first I was apprehensive about this particular craft and I had regretted my choice of weaving over print making. Perhaps it is because my expectations had sunk so low in the couple of weeks prior to class that I ended up really enjoying it! The group dynamic was great. With only seven people in the class it's a real chance to get to know people on a deeper level. Already I feel like I know the other six a little better. For the past two years I've been experimenting with knitting and for the most part I've been happy with my products. Knitting tends to require so much of my concentration that my brain leaves reality and escapes itself for a while, resulting in a more relaxed state of mind and reducing my levels of anxiety. Perhaps it is because I am working with the same medium that weaving had a similar effect. Once I really got in to the swing of it I found myself concentrating hard on making sure the edges were neat and tidy and that each row was even and all the waft was covered as instructed by the teacher. When break time came I felt myself wanting to stay seated and continue with my work. I think this is what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes as "flow". 

What now?

So over the next week we are to work on the design of our final piece. I'm looking forward to choosing colours and learning more weaving techniques. I also feel like a strong bond will form amongst the group which is important if we are to spend the next four years together!

*Below are my inspirational images of sunsets, boats and whales. Also photos of my first weaving attept and a quick snapshot of my collage.

Creative Occupations

As part of our first year Occuaptional Therapy course we are required to take part in a creative textiles or printing class. I've chosen textiles as I have experience with printing and I feel like I should branch out and challenge myself with something different. The purpose of taking part in such a class is to explore and experience our own creativity and the process of actually being creative. Crafts appear to have played a huge role since the beginning of occupational therapy with many believing that by engaging in art, craft work and horticulture we can have a healing effect on our physical being and our mental health. As every occupational therapist knows it was Mary Reilly who said that "man, through the use of his hands, as they are energised by mind and will, can influence the state of his own health". The benefits of engaging in craft work are numerous and include building hand-eye coordination, focusing and engaging the mind and freeing up our creative sides. We use mostly our hands daily to occupy our time. While some may look upon craft work as a hobby it can be essential to every day living. For example wood work can produce furniture for the home. Engaging in craft work can help build habits that are useful in daily life. Group craft work can promote support and camaraderie among people, thus creating a sense of belonging through participation. I love to set myself tasks and projects. I am forever searching for new projects to undertake from cooking new recipe ideas, knitting baby booties, painting furniture to trying my hand at growing my own vegetables. It is not just the end product that motivates me but the feeling of being involved and using my brain and my hands to create something. I'm excited about this textile class and I'm mostly looking forward to the experience of not only trying something new, but doing it as part of a group.

Below is the image I've decided to use as inspiration for my textile project. I wanted to incorporate all the things I love and what makes me feel happy. The ocean brings back some very special memories for me as I spent almost two years working on cruise ships. Being at sea made me feel free - free of responsibility, worries, negativity and to an extent real life! That feeling of freedom and happiness was something lost on me before I embarked on my first ship adventure. I found myself during those first few weeks at sea and I formed strong friendships that have supported me every day since leaving ship life in Fort Lauderdale in 2013. Some of my most happiest memories are of watching sunsets and seeing the whales in Hawaii and in Alaska.

Follow my Instagram journey @myotjourney

Me time!

One of my biggest struggles during my first semester was never finding time for myself to do the things I love to do. I love tinkering around with crafty projects - knitting, sewing, painting furniture, attempting to crochet, trawling through DIY shops, adding sequins, buttons and ribbons to anything that I think requires updating! Sometimes I finish these projects, sometimes I don't. But I always enjoy the act of being productive!

It makes me sad then when I look back at how my first three months of college completely took over my life. Any spare time I had in the evenings (after dinner, showering and preparing for the following day was done) was spent slumped in front of the tv, scrolling through facebook and Instagram and Pinterest - lazy, mindless methods of low level brain stimulation. I abandoned my bikram yoga classes because class times always coincided with a hectic college schedule. I was always too tired on my one day off in the week to get out my boxes of sequins and buttons and ribbons. I dreaded getting in to the car to go ANYWHERE, so I didn't bother.

From my research in to occupational therapy it would appear that a high level of importance is placed on leisure time and many OT's promote the positive effect it has on mental health. Why then do many OT's spend so much of their time and energy on others, frequently forgetting do to the same for themselves?

My second semester is about to start and I have made a promise to myself that I will make time for me every week. A couple of hours to attend a yoga class. An hour for cooking or baking for pleasure, not just out of necessity. Twenty minutes of sitting alone in a quiet room to reconnect with myself. Anything! But I have to do something, for the sake of my own mental health.

College is no easy feat at 30.

I knew returning to full time education at 29 years of age would be hard. I braced myself for the difficulty of being in a class of 18 year olds. I prepared myself for the hardship of not having as much money to spend on myself. I asked myself more than a hundred times if I would regret delaying starting a family. The first two issues have not bothered me in the slightest. The third plays on my mind now and again. But surprisingly what I found most difficult was the sheer volume of work. I had not expected there to be so much work, especially in the first semester. Week after week I found myself constantly struggling to keep on top of it. Just when I felt like I was getting ahead another load was thrown at me, knocking me right back to the start again. Quite soon in to the beginning of the first semester in September I was feeling knee deep in sh*t! Endless pages of reading, weekly online assessments that would count towards my end of year marks, everything in a language that was completely alien to me. By November I was at my wits end. I spent a week crying in to my pillow. I repeatedly questioned why in the world I was doing this to myself. I had not seen my friends in two months. I struggled to find time to do the things that I wanted to do. I had not been able to get to a yoga class, something that I had been practicing three days a week before the course started. I was in college Monday to Friday, putting in 40 hours a week. Add that to the 45 minute commute to and from college. I left early the morning and arrived home late in the evenings. I worked one day at the weekend. On my day off I struggled to get out of bed. I had no energy to go anywhere, do anything or see anyone. I usually spent my day off doing laundry and making any excuse to not get in my car. I was spending 9 hours a week in my car. I didn't want to get in to it again on my day off. I felt like I was drowning and I had only been doing the course for three months. How could I possibly do this for four years? This "meltdown" coincided with my 30th birthday which possibly added to my torment and upset. Should I leave? Get a steady job? Consider having a family? Aren't these the things we are supposed to be doing at 30? It's certainly what all my friends are doing!

I've had four weeks off for the Christmas break and if I'm honest I still question if I'm doing the right thing. I don't know where this journey will take me. I don't know if I'll even get a job in the area of OT thanks to a first world country with a third world health care system. But I'm rested and feeling upbeat, positive and determined. I'm looking forward to seeing my class. I'm prepared for the workload because I've experienced it already and I know what to expect. I'm not ready to give up yet. #BringIt #NoRegrets #determined

Journey To Occupational Therapy

My journey towards becoming an occupational therapist began in February 2013 after I returned home from two years of traveling the world. Whilst traveling I was working as a massage therapist and in the back of my mind I always knew I would return home and progress in to the field of physiotherapy; more specifically I wanted to enter the area of rehabilitation. During extensive research in to college courses I came across Occupational Therapy and immediately it struck a cord. I was drawn to the way it takes the whole person in to consideration in its treatment of patients rather trying to fix the superficial problem.

My first step was to find out more about the area of OT before I took on the full time four year course and I wanted to do this in a practical setting rather than reading about it online. Getting work experience was no easy feat. For insurance reasons many OT's were unable to offer work experience or to allow me to shadow them during work hours. This is when I stumbled upon an internship programme in Auckland, New Zealand; http://www.travellersworldwide.com. It cost me a considerable amount of money and was a massive gamble to travel so far just to find out if OT was for me, but I love to travel and I vowed to embrace the experience regardless of how the internship turned out. I'm happy to say it was a success in more ways than one. I met some truly amazing woman who made my time in New Zealand so special and the volunteer program was a huge eye opener to really understanding what an occupational therapist does on a daily basis. 
Arriving home I began the long and torturous process of filling out application forms, applications for grants and writing my personal statement. Upon receiving positive feedback regarding my personal statement I was then invited to interview. I was one of 65 people interviewing for one of five places. Determination and preparation paid off and I received news that I had been accepted! I was elated and thrilled to be taking on the challenge. I'm now three months in to the course, and while there have been moments when I've questioned why I'm back in college at 30 years of age I know that I'm heading in the right direction 👍😊💝🎓