What to do in times of crisis
During the dramatic past months, I instinctively and fanatically grasped on to a couple of activities:
- reorganizing and decluttering my house
Nothing was safe for me. Every cupboard, closet, box and drawer got emptied out and cleaned. The contents got sorted. I determined what could be sold, what should be thrown out and the rest had to be neatly and well-organized placed back. Room after room went through my hands. I lacked the concentration to read a book, to blog or do anything that required my full attention. I was capable to go through my stuff though. It distracted me and somewhat tamed the restlessness in my body and mind.
- giving in to an insatiable need to be creative
I could not stop myself. I ‘pimped’ numerous things in my house. By pimping I mean: beautifying (in my eyes at least), revamping, bedazzling, up-cycling and so forth.Being creative helped. It took my mind of my worries and my sorrow. Partly and temporarily that is. But hey, that’s better than not at all.
Yes, I admitt, I’m a more is more person
Here are some of the results of my creative attacks:
I have a huge collection of religious parafernalia. For me, they are ‘just’ objects and images that I like. I’m a humanist and atheist, so they have no religious meaning for me. Only an esthetic one.
(No offense to people who do believe.)
Turning heavy stuff in happy stuff
Part of my collection has been gifted to me. Sometimes people found a statue and thought it fitted in my collection, sometimes they had it for years, got bored of it and gave it to me. Many figurines that I received are nice and pretty. Others are damaged, dull and ugly. Those are the ones I picked to revamp.
Like this Pieta.
A Pieta in itself is already a dramatic symbol and image. Heavy stuff. And this one in particular was ugly and boring. Apart from the flesh tones, the rest of the statue was dark and gloomy.
I prefer to surround myself with ‘happy’ stuff. Things in bright colors. Items with humor in them.
So I decided to bring some lightness into my Pieta. My aim was to loose the connotations of death and suffering that linger around any Pieta.
I repainted the base of the statue and removed the letter A from Pieta. Now it says: Piet, which is the dutch equivalent for Pete.
In my mind, I changed the story of the image. What we see now, is Piet, the dutch Indian, taking a nap in the arms of his wife.
It’s not 100% finished. What’s left to do, is to camouflage the bloody stain on his hand.
Ok, the result is not totally convincing and the statue still seems a bit sad, but at least I tried!;-)
Because of the dramatic circumstances, I didn’t think of taking ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. It all happened in an impulse. So the ‘after’ pictures are all I can show you.
From damaged Mannequin to Quirky Glam Queen
As I said in my post about Marieke, she gave me an old, damaged mannequin.
This is what became of that thing:
What about you? How do you control your demons? What helps you get through times of stress, crisis, anger, sadness?
Sports? Cleaning your house? Crafting?
Do tell me about it!
I love that you were still able to be creative in your grief.
I can see how decluttering would be a mindless activity to work on when dealing with something so tragic.
I have also turned to writing when I’m very sad or unhappy.
I really think you did a great job with the Indian style head dress and costume.
I love the inspired barbies having a party on the head of the mannequin!
bisous
Suzanne
Thanks, dear.
Yes, I can imagine how writing can be therapeutic too. Especially for a good writer like yourself!
Piet’s wife is a very generous person to let her husband lounge like that on her lap. Hahaha. Fantastic creative projects, Anja. But the feathers on the statuary delight me because they are so unexpected. And I love what you’ve done to the mannequin, yes, with the Barbies on her head.
Yes, if I can manage to stay awake when I’m down, I turn to creative pursuits as well, often oil pastel work or writing, or cleaning/decluttering tasks, like you. If there is anger involved, abstract expressionist is a surefire healer.
The Pieta turning into a Dutch couple of Indians surprised me too. That’s what I like about being in a crafty, creative flow; you sometimes have no idea yourself where that came from.
The mannequin has two ‘pin-up cake-toppers’ on her head; that’s how and what I once bought them for. Not that I can cook or bake, but they were too kitsch and fun to NOT purchase;-). Now they found a perfect spot with a great outlook; high up the head of the mannequin.
Abstract expressionism in case of anger….gotta remember that one! Altho I think I’ll suck at that, which might only make me more angry. Hahaha…
I should have employed you during your mad decluttering fase. There is a lot to declutter at my house too.
I am the fortunate one who has seen all your creations in real life. Indeed you have been a busy girl. The Piets are my favourite but compete over first place with the mannequin. She turned out gorgeous. You do brighten up this world.
As for stress, anger and grief?? No idea what I do. It has been a while (fortunately) that I have been in that place. Cry? Break something? Nothing creative I fear.
Greetje
I love to declutter and (re-)organize! So you can always hire me;-).
Breaking something seems like you, in times of anger. Hahaha….