Last week, I wrote about my experience of reading my favourite weekend newspaper and how disturbed I was by the news. However, there was a good ending to the story that deserves telling. It was only when I reached the gardening section of the FT that I could breathe more easily. Feasting on the creative talent and beauty on those pages was balm for my nervous system.
It reminded me of the importance of taking a break from gathering and analysing. It reminded me of the value of turning our attention to beauty and creativity.
In a recent podcast, Arthur C. Brooks made the point that beauty is not about superficial pleasure. Whether viewing a painting or watching a sunset, restore cognitive balance, reduce stress, stimulate creativity, and increase feelings of meaning and transcendence.
Creating something beautiful may be even more powerful.
I started pottery classes this year. It is more like play-with-clay evenings, a space where we are encouraged to experiment and see where our imagination leads. There is little expectation that anyone will become a master potter, but plenty of enthusiasm for the joy of making and sharing together.
I look forward to these evenings. They are a welcome break in my week between spreadsheets, projections, and e-mails.
In a dopamine addicted world, we have been trained to expect short, sharp rewards. Crafts demand the opposite. A piece of pottery asks for patience, technique, and time. It asks for focus, concentration, and delayed reward. I may only complete a small part of a larger project in one evening, and the finished product, after firing, may not resemble my vision.
Yet it is often while lost in a craft that we step out of the constant demand to analyse and decide. Yet, somewhere in the background of the mind, thoughts shift, combine, and form new patterns. Problems that once felt tangled begin to loosen. Insights arrive. New possibilities or resolutions emerge. The mind is still working, but in a different way.
In a world determined to capture and monetise our attention, beauty and creativity become more than hobbies. More than luxury. They become practices that restore our capacity to think clearly, imagine, and solve the problems that matter.
Sometimes the best way to make sense of the world is not to gather more information or expand our analysis. Sometimes the answer is to step away from the noise, pick up a piece of clay, and let beauty do its work.
Ps: I love to hear your comments. If you are not on our mailing list, you can subscribe to receive this blog every week on our website www.foundationsa.com.
Kind regards,
Sunél
