Creative/Art therapy

I write poetry, less now than I used to though. I won a competition and had five books published by mainstream poetry publishers. However I tired of the mental energy requirement to cope with the huge number of rejections for each poem accepted. I know it is  good quality and original writing but I completely stopped submitting to publishers some years ago. I didn’t find it helpful in a therapeutic way and the boost to my self esteem wasn’t worth the quantity of rejection.

One creative job I had was writing funding bids and this was incredibly satisfying. I have a knack of writing in the style of others, this worked extremely well in this post as it enabled the bids I wrote to out compete others. The real satisfaction though was in seeing my work create opportunities for, for example, young people in severely deprived areas, projects which provided them safe spaces and activities and support as an alternative to the gang and knife culture of these areas.

As a hobby I tried photography, here though I found I was simply re creating the styles of iconic  photographers such as Ezra Stoller, Diane Arbus, Andy Goldsworthy, not personally adding anything to the sum of human creativity so never put it out there. In the end I stopped as it seemed pointless.

I cant express myself in drawing or painting due to significant fine motor impairment but I do enjoy seeing the work of artists and visiting galleries  

However my creativity is now very healthily directed at organising and sorting, eg: our garage, kitchen cupboards, cutlery drawers, which is surprisingly fulfilling and helpful for my mental health. Im retired but worked for many years in libraries and before that factories where part of my role was managing the stores, both these jobs required me to think four dimensionally about object storage and Im using these skills to improve our own spaces. 

Creativity can be so many different things, and many not all obvious 

AnA

I write poetry, less now than I used to though. I won a competition and had five books published by mainstream poetry publishers. However I tired of the mental energy requirement to cope with the huge number of rejections for each poem accepted. I know it is  good quality and original writing but I completely stopped submitting to publishers some years ago. I didn’t find it helpful in a therapeutic way and the boost to my self esteem wasn’t worth the quantity of rejection.

One creative job I had was writing funding bids and this was incredibly satisfying. I have a knack of writing in the style of others, this worked extremely well in this post as it enabled the bids I wrote to out compete others. The real satisfaction though was in seeing my work create opportunities for, for example, young people in severely deprived areas, projects which provided them safe spaces and activities and support as an alternative to the gang and knife culture of these areas.

As a hobby I tried photography, here though I found I was simply re creating the styles of iconic  photographers such as Ezra Stoller, Diane Arbus, Andy Goldsworthy, not personally adding anything to the sum of human creativity so never put it out there. In the end I stopped as it seemed pointless.

I cant express myself in drawing or painting due to significant fine motor impairment but I do enjoy seeing the work of artists and visiting galleries  

However my creativity is now very healthily directed at organising and sorting, eg: our garage, kitchen cupboards, cutlery drawers, which is surprisingly fulfilling and helpful for my mental health. Im retired but worked for many years in libraries and before that factories where part of my role was managing the stores, both these jobs required me to think four dimensionally about object storage and Im using these skills to improve our own spaces. 

Creativity can be so many different things, and many not all obvious 

AnA

I also struggle with fine motor issues as i I have dysgraphia so writing can be difficult and painful. 

It's wonderful to hear that you used your talent to help other possibly escape from harmful situations.

I suppose for me it's not about creating something new and unique it is more about finding a release in a constructive way rather than screaming into the void.

I'd love to paint vast vivid canvases but my minds eye just doesn't work so I can't visualise what I'd be aiming for, so I feel I'd just get frustrated and give up.

I appreciate and admire the talent of others and I can happily wander around a gallery looking for an impartation that will never come.

I hope you enjoy your retirement and continued organisation of your outbuildings.