Putting a spin on creativity!
Learn how to take time-out of your busy schedule and focus on the task in hand…
What if I told you that you could forget about all of your worries and woes with just one session on a pottery wheel, would you believe me?
It seems to be one of those things that you will find on most people’s ‘If I have any spare time or money’ list but always gets bumped further to the bottom. I can totally relate as pottery was something that I didn’t discover until I was 34 years old (and I’m 40 now!), I had a career that kept me insanely busy and I had next to no hobbies to call my own.
You see the thing about the pottery wheel is that it’s pure magic and clay, the magician. It forces time to slow and at times, stand still even. A friend asked me once what my superpower would be if I were allowed but one and I couldn’t think of anything until now. Pottery already allows me to have the power to block out the world and the construct of time, to stand still and quiet in my own breathe, concentrating on the pot in hand. If that is not indeed a super power, then I don’t know what is.
In the early months of each year, most of us mere mortals set out our goals and intentions for the year ahead, some unachievable from the outset and others that fall by the wayside as our lives get busy again. My main focus for this year was self care. I am mostly like a hurricane for those of you that don’t know me, which proved useful in my previous career but disastrous as you can imagine, when combined with ceramics.
Pottery would teach me patience and calm my frenetic personality whilst partaking in the activities of clay but I would always return to ‘Hurricane Bec’. So far this year, so good. I remain calm and peaceful, unsure of whether it’s just the time of year or a turned leaf for good. Who cares, I’ll take it for now!
And that’s the main focus that I wish to get across, that whatever we have going on in our busy lives, we should always put ourselves at the top of our own list. Our health and mental wellbeing are so important to how everything else will function, we cannot lose sight of ourselves. This year, I am trying something new, to love and care for myself as never before.
The first time I sat at a pottery wheel, something switched on in my brain; pure magic! The beauty in the feel of the clay, the mesmerising motion of the wheel, the meditative and grounding that I felt as a result. I finally felt like myself, maybe that was the switch. So many people with busy lives would really benefit from this activity and I love nothing more than to show someone how to make a pot from a ball of mud, it’s like food for the soul. I’d like to say that I found pottery but I know that it found me! I hope it finds you too.
Give yourself a break from the norm and try a lesson on the pottery wheel. Feed your creative soul and take time to reflect, relax and create. Check out our website for winter deals & discounts.
See below: A selection of pots made by my students…
