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Art for Healing
Kudos to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art for allowing physicians to write prescriptions for free admission to the museum. And kudos to Mayo Clinic for its art program. From the beginning, Mayo Clinic believed that art can uplift patients and foster healing. Whether it's Rochester, Jacksonville or Scottsdale, Mayo Clinic displays a wide range of artwork for patients. The Rochester site published a brochure for a self-guided tour of artwork. I live in Rochester and every time I'm at Mayo, I take the time to look at the artwork.
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You have only talked about fine arts and forgot about practical arts. Not everyone is good at fine arts and we do not realize just how important practical arts are in therapy and in our lives. When I was sent to rehab after my two strokes the first thing I ask friends for were large knitting needles and yarn. I knew that if I did not start knitting I would just lie there and do nothing. (When the doctors discharged me from the hospital they did not know if I needed Hospice or Palliative Care they had done all they could.) I started knitting a scarf two weeks after I entered rehab, I knitted up a storm and got back most of my mobility, I still can not use chopsticks.
There are many more practical arts that are overlooked for many reasons and are just as therapeutic as fine arts. We do not consider typing as an art, laying out a page for a magazine or book is very artistic. We do not set type anymore, it is done on the keyboard. I still do not know the keyboard like I once did but I am getting better. Even coloring is therapeutic, using colored pencils helped me write. Just holding a pencil or pen and get it to do what you want it to do and where is not easy. Then there is working with wood. I do not trust myself with a power saw so I will not go there. I use a microwave to fix most of my meals, I do not feel comfortable with a gas stove.
Sorry, when I get into all the practical arts that are overlooked, I go on and on.Yes, fine arts are important and so are practical arts in therapy and in our lives.
mlmcg
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6 Reactions@mlmcg so true as there are many ways to be creative. I am sorry if you felt this thread was being partial to the fine arts. I cannot use knitting needles, but I can use chop sticks. Hopefully more can share their ways of being creative and how this helps through hard times. Doubtful anyone was thinking exclusively the fine arts as there are days that getting out of bed is an art for me!!
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5 ReactionsThank you for this post. I'm a huge booster of practical arts and thank you for adding them to this discussion. I, too, could go on and on about the benefits of practical arts.
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5 ReactionsHello @mlmcg, I agree with both you and @parus. Art takes many forms and knitting, crocheting, needle point, embroidery are all art experiences. I read an article sometime ago (I looked for it but could not find it) about the use of the hands as being therapeutic for people both mentally as well as physically.
So let's all get out our crayons, knitting needles, colored pencils, calligraphy pens as well as our paint brushes and drawing boards and let's create for the health of it!
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5 ReactionsLove your reply. I express my creativeness with writing, cooking, and speaking.
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3 Reactions@hopeful33250 We can be on the road to health for the health of it!! I enjoy learning of the various ways others cope. I have tried to learn the art of needle work and ended up in a tangled mess. We all have things we just cannot do ☹️ I enjoy the enthusiasm and need to get back to the drawing board-after the dishes before they run away with the spoon 😉
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4 Reactions@hopeful33250 @parus @mlmcg @harriethodgson1 When you stop to think about it, almost anything can be viewed as a therapy. Making a cup of tea: the retrieval of teabag with its aroma, the sound of water boiling, the fragrant steam of the steeping, the soothing taste. Being able to do any task can be a meditative process as we focus on each part. And if we cannot do it physically, reviewing that task mentally may achieve the same result. For myself, my writing, crochet, quiltmaking, and Zentangle are creative outlets that calm/ focus/help heal me.
Ginger
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3 ReactionsYou're so right Ginger. We can make many ordinary experiences into meditative experiences.
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3 Reactions@jenniferhunter The acoustics are just right for that music! Last time we were at Scripps Green Medical Institute [La Jolla, CA], we finally heard the grand piano in the lobby being played. Normally my husband's post-transplant appts are early morning, this time it was midday. Guess the pianists don't do sunrise ;))
Ginger
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2 ReactionsI understand what you are saying, @parus. I'll probably never master the technique of eating with chopsticks, so the fork will be my way of eating chinese food!