It was one of those weekends that was filled to satisfaction with laughter, vicarious accomplishment and connectedness. Weekends are mostly good, sometimes busy but not often end-to-end delicious. This last weekend was that. Delicious.
Entering the new week after a delicious weekend felt like that moment before taking a bite out of a hot croissant with lashings of melted butter. An expectation of lightness, a hint of a crisp crust, and the promise of warmth, fullness and energy.
Disciplined, determined
The All Blacks arrived chests puffed with an eleven game winning streak. They fielded the strongest team they could. The Springboks arrived in a more sober, serious state. Six weeks prior they had been hammered by the All Blacks in Auckland, New Zealand. The coaching team was still tinkering with some back line positions and a sudden injury resulted in a somewhat controversial and risky bench.
None of this mattered as a disciplined, determined Springbok team stormed, mauled, attacked, zipped, flipped, dammed and scrummed their way to the biggest margin win against the All Blacks in history: 35-7. This, only two weeks away from the Rugby World Cup. Their strategy had been innovative and creative and it had paid off.
We loved it. We basked in the reflected glory of the Springbok spirit and cheered with the crowd as the captain, Siya Kolisi, took the stand for his interview. It set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
There is something about being on the winning side that fills one’s heart and puts a smile on one’s face. That feeling stayed with us all weekend. A weekend full of rugby in the run up to the World Cup, with plenty of upsets and curiosities. Strong teams not performing well, minnows performing to super strength.
Creativity comes in many shapes and sizes…
Creativity builds emotional fitness
The Super Power Programme focused on creativity this week. Play dough was the material of choice to mould the shape of a positive feeling. Initially the teenagers giggled at the thought of playing with a product that they remember from childhood. Then, as they kneaded, rolled and shaped the brightly coloured dough, a gentler, quieter energy settled over them. The time flew by as they focused on their creations.
“I learned that I can still play like a child and it is okay and I enjoyed it,” said one in her check out.
“I realised that I am actually creative!” said another, beaming in delight.
Engaging in a creative pursuit is so good for our mental and emotional wellbeing. It does so much good from reducing stress, anxiety and depression to increasing brain function, stimulating innovation and improving the immune system. It builds emotional fitness. The joy of doing something just for the sake of doing it is deeply beneficial but as adults we sometimes feel the need to be purposeful and productive in all we do.
Being creative gets you into the flow state, lovely for feeling good
A creative coffee club
We attended what was named a “coffee club”, invited by a fellow Lindenite we met sharing vegetable seeds. A place to meet, make, create and converse. Coloured crayons, pencils, pastels and koki pens traced stepping stones through the middle of the oversized oregon pine table that we all sat around. Chantal pulled out her new crochet project while Matthew launched himself into making some prayer flags. The pretty, slight woman to Chantal’s right sat quietly nibbling on a slice of orange cake.
“What is your creative thing to do?” asked Chantal furiously hooking another round to her granny square.
“Oh I don’t do anything, I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” she replied.
Chantal was momentarily silenced. She wondered how the woman knew this without having tried something out. She didn’t pick up a pencil, pastel or koki. She didn't even doodle.
While the destination can be beautiful, creativity is more about the journey
Are you good at it?
This is what we do as adults. We stop playing. We hold ourselves back from experimenting with coloured pencils, being okay with drawing badly, crocheting untidily or fluffing the new method of painting. We think we aren’t good at it.
Why do we care? Does anyone care if we are “good at” walking? No, we just do it. When we just grab a coloured crayon and scribble, doodle, and just have fun, something changes. Something inside of us relaxes, sighs out and opens up.
This is what happened over the course of the weekend. We played, we laughed, we had fun. We were frivolous and silly. And we entered the week all the better for it.
Until next time.
Yours in feeling,
Chantal & Matthew
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