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.

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