Giving Your Creative Brain A Rest

It's hard to think about giving your brain a rest.  
Let's think about this...

If your back was hurting, you would sit down. If you had a pain in your foot you would stop walking so much.  For those of us who push it all the time, causing our wrists to ACHE from overuse of our hands.  We eventually need carpel tunnel surgery and therapy after that.  All of these are things are the norm, so when do we allow our brains to rest?  Not Often Enough.

Artist are thinking of their next creation often.  What colors might be used, the subject.
and we don't turn it off.

But  Rest your Brain.  Ideas come better without the pressure of the outcome.

Enjoy art, produce the unknown, say something, play.
Speak with your soul. Give it life. 

Give ideas time to simmer... not always applying the heat to your ART.

#pinkcat  #explore  #artiststatement  #integrity 

Betty Bad Ass

I, (A.K.A. Betty Bad Ass) do admit:

I sold my soul to the devil today,

 and it felt really good. 

What did I say?

Say one thing and then do another.

Yep, that would be me.

       

The hand dyeing in plastic bags method works for me. The next day, rinse and wash in the machine to get the remainder of the dye out.

 

 

Mental Illness Part I

I have spent nearly two years on here talking about my ups and downs with my own depression.  I haven't beaten it, but I am improving and I have learned a lot. I have read about mental health, follow blogs, know about therapy, the pain and believe that art-making helps to cure depression.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Some people have horrible depression, and mental health issues but they don't believe in taking medication, and they never get therapy. They blame everything on others and have a false sense of reality.
 2.  People with mental illness who never seek treatment only become worse. Group therapy is not for everyone, and  private counseling can be costly.  The cost of having no treatment often makes you turn to alcohol, drugs, sex, overeating, or isolation.
3. Suicide by an overdose may seem a way out,  but unless you really read up on the best drugs and the amount needed for a toxic dose, you are likely to fail, and just end up in the hospital with complications.  Guns and other means are possible, but they may also fail. There is information on the web about all the options.
4. Some mentally ill people are so angry they can physically or emotionally harm others. They feel so bad, they want "company" to share their misery. They belittle the ones closes to them, and have them believing they are needed to help ease their situation.
5. The mentally ill are the victims, but think they have all the answers. They argue with doctors, therapists, and those who have the knowledge to make educated decision.
7. Many of the mentally ill are likely to blame their parents, siblings, friends, family, anyone who has been in their lives.
8. The mentally ill either rarely have hobbies or pets, or surround themselves with animals who they trust more than people.
9. Many people who are suffering may have come from 
violent, abusive, tormented homes. Many suffered with 
learning disabilities in childhood. They lack hope, and rarely speak up about how their physical and mental problems are worse than everyone else. They pretend everything is great. They don't want to stand out.
10. People with a major mental illness may not seek solutions, because they believe there are none.
11. Mentally ill people suffer with trust issues. They want what others have, are jealous of others success, and deny this about themselves.
12. They wait until it is too late to make a change.
13. Sometimes the "help" offered to a person suffering with a mental illness is not a good fit.  Speak up if it feels wrong.
14. Hospitals are not the right place for everyone's recovery.
They are a place to find stability, they are not a long term solution.

I would recommend this from the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lexi-herrick/11-habits-of-people-with-_b_6384062.html

#mental   #hospitalization   #victim  #suicide  #suffer

 

Handfuls

Handfuls

Have you seen this article connecting using your hands to aid depression?

In a book called The Creativity Cure, authors Carrie and Alton Barron make an interesting claim: using our hands can help us avoid or alleviate mild to moderate depression.
She is a psychiatrist, he is a hand surgeon. They point out that more than half of the brain's cortex is mapped to our hands, which suggests that activities that involve our hands engage our brains. 


http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2014/07/can-using-your-hands-help-you-beat-depression.html

Really now?  I am not a specialist- but the hand/brain thing and depression makes perfect sense.

When I feel sad, I reject working at making my art.  When I feel better, I get so intensely involved in making art, I forget to eat, stay up late and going to the bathroom seems a waste of time.  Yes.  I agree that hand work helps and I endorse this message!

Working my free-form crochet has really helped me.  I don't really care how it turns out- just enjoy getting in the groove of the motion-in and out, counting, creating, adding rows and of course, choosing the color of yarn.

#depression  #yourhands   #artist   #imagination  #freeform   #crochet

My Children

I have two children.  They don't like me much.

Since they were teenagers, the one has told me how much she dislikes and distrusts me.
The other thinks I judge her, when really I only want her to thrive. Knowing that in their eyes, I have failed them is awful. This pain will never fade. 

When I was a younger mom I wanted to do everything right for my children because I believed my own mom had gotten it all wrong. Damn parenting.

They are each 20-something now.  Hope this will all be healed soon.  I can not feel this way all the time.  My life is my own.

#brokenheart