A Post a Day in May #3: Lessons from the Arts No. 1

I have pledged to write a new post for this blog every day in May. 

COVID-19 hit Manitoba with its first case on March 12. The next day, my workplace announced plans to shut down and two days after that I began working from home: #WFH. It was a bit of a rocky adjustment for me, as work time & space bled into personal time & space — until I moved off the dining room table and set up shop at the back of the living room, leaving the dining table free for more important matters: eating meals. 

My mind was buzzing with everything that was going on in the world and at work, and by the evening on day two of #WFH, I felt like my head was going to explode. So I did what I often do when feeling wound up, I took myself down to my craft table and started playing with paper, scissors and glue. That evening, I made my first piece in the series I am calling COVID-19: end date unknown. It is my representation of the virus itself. 

I have now completed nine pieces. Sometimes, I know exactly what I want to create; others, I have no idea when I begin, but it comes to me as I play with images and shapes. And by the end of the process, I inevitably feel better, more at one with myself — if not the world. 

What’s happening on my table is art, but what’s happening in my brain and body is science. This article by NPR science writer Malaka Gharib explains why and how. The gist is this:

• Doing something creative can lower cortisol levels in the body and activate the reward pathway in the brain. 
• During the creative process — whatever form of art you choose to do — you are making a series of decisions and, in so doing, using your imagination to create a new way of seeing or understanding something.
• That act of creation nurtures a sense of possibility and, thus, a shift (to some degree) in your view or understanding of what is in the front of your mind. 

I didn’t know any of the science when I began collaging. I just knew I always enjoyed the process and sometimes really liked what I produced. Today, I “make art” because I know that doing it helps me process my internal state while simultaneously coming to terms with the chaos of the external world. And, of course,I enjoy the process and appreciate the results.

So. Pick up that pencil. Find those scissors. Buy some glue. Whatever your chosen medium, get cracking: Make some art! 

COVID-19: end date unknown ONE