At some point in our lives there’s always some tragedies or other hardships that pop up, whether we like it or not. It takes a lot to cope with situations like that, and some times it can take quite some time too. A crafting person like me, is no more spared than anybody else, even though there might be an appearance of that all is well and life & bussiness is all sunshine from day to day. As a neighbour of mine said several times: ” There’s no use in being envious of somebody else’s life – we all get a good share of hardships and devastating experiences.” And that is so true. And by feeding envy – we never get to know those valuable people out there. Instead there might be more harm caused instead through gossiping and other actions.
Tar treated hearts
Some months ago I faced a tragedy involving a childhood friend of mine. I was devastated and fortunately it wasn’t the busiest time of my season, so there was some time for being a little on the down side… Still I was relieved to bump in to an article about that being sad isn’t an illness, it’s a normal way of reaction and a part of the process towards healing & being able to continue with life. Good, I thought, because that’s how I’ve always felt, there are times when one must be allowed to be really sad for some time, even several weeks is normal.
This is nothing I long for ofcourse, but some years ago when I faced an other obstacle in my life, I focused on whittling hearts out of pine tree bark. I whittled quite a few, and once my hands were sore from whitling I moved to making hearts from twigs. Now when I look back on photos of these items, I get a positive feeling of getting over something, but in the same time I was capable of focusing on something positive. At first the whittling didn’t feel so good, but it keept me focused on the knife and not cutting myself. The more I whittled, the more I managed to process the sorrow, and move over to more positive feelings as watching what I had accomplished.
My recent crafting therapy was focusing on flowers. Due to a disc hernia that made my life a little more complicated at that point, I had to work on something that could be made lying down, or half -sitting. Sitting was out of the question. So I crocheted roses. In all the colours I could find suitable fluffy yarns in my yarn stash. I ended up buying more inspirational fluffy yarns, and crocheting more flowers.
I don’t own anymore many of the oroiginal sorrow-crafted items, I actually managed to sell most of them, but I enjoy watching photos of them. And watching the photos make me feel better about how I was able to process all the feelings out of me and at the same time produce something that could bring some sort of income later on-although I felt quite paralyzed while they were made.
Cayaking season is up a head...
I still whittle hearts, and today I also treat them with tar-& linseed oil mixture, for that sea-bitten scent & beautiful shade. Thanks to an ex co-worker from a previous job, I got a good recipe on this tar-mixture. I have also moved to painting the hearts with egg-oil tempera, but that procedure takes a little longer than the tar treatment. But at the same time it builds up my patience… And the few that are already done – the egg oil tempera colours are breathtaking…
With everything bad something good always seems to come along as well, but that’s something one has to realize later – not be told while your world is falling a part…
I’m so looking forward to the spring season and sitting outside in my Outdoor Office, but there’s still ice on the sea in front of me and it chills our frontyard quite effectively… I can’t wait to tar treat some whittled hearts and hang them in the sun to dry! And finishing the egg oil tempera painting project of my Yellow Basket… 🙂 And what’s yet best to come, the cayaking season (I’m no hardcore cayaker yet, with neopren equipment..) is up ahead! There’s nothing more peaceful than silently gliding across the sea, seeing birdlife and others that have no idea that I’m out there due to this silent vessel…
Looking For Santa 