Will it be, Last Christmas by Wham? Wizard’s I wish it could be Christmas every day? Or, my personal favourite, Go Tell the Bees, by David Milligan-Croft?
Wait, what? That’s not a song.
No, it’s a fantastic, moving and heartfelt new collection of poetry by David Milligan-Croft. Think of them as lyrics for the modern age. You can sing them if you like.
It was Amazon’s #1 in Hot New Releases in both Contemporary poetry and British & Irish poetry when it came out at the end of October. Unfortunately, it’s slipped down the rankings now.
It would be nice to get it back up to #1 in time for Christmas, wouldn’t it? I mean, just imagine the look on all those hungry little kid’s faces when they see me tucking into a family size tin of Quality Street. Bless ’em.
So, you know what to do, folks. Let’s get Go Tell the Bees back to #1 where it belongs!
Meanwhile, here are a couple of proper Christmas ditties from yesteryear.
The Art is Medicine exhibition opened with a special preview on Friday evening, then to the public at the Saturday Art Club.
The exhibition showcases the work created by patients on Arden Ward, acute adult mental health unit at Stepping Hill Hospital, Pennine Care NHS FT.
The exhibition aims to demonstrate how the arts can help in the treatment and recovery from mental illness and maintenance of mental wellbeing.
Arc, who volunteer on the wards once a week, then used some of the activities at the Saturday Art Club where families tried out the benefits for themselves. (To great effect, as you will see below.)
Engaging in arts activities for mental wellbeing is about the process, not the result.
When a person engages in art their brain releases dopamine regardless of whether the resulting work is any good or not. It is the process of creating something that gives the benefit, not the end result. Engaging in the arts improves brain plasticity and increases neural connections.
Numerous patients have gone on to be referred to Arc’s creative programmes which have helped create the link between their treatment in hospital and a safe space in the community. Ultimately, giving people new coping strategies to maintain mental wellbeing and avoid readmission to hospital.
L to R: Anthony Hassall, CEO Pennine Care NHS FT; yours truly, (Technical Instructor, Pennine Care NHS FT and Trustee of Arc); Jacqui Wood, CEO Arc; Dr Jackie Kindell, Head of AHPs & Social Workers, Pennine Care NHS FT.L to R: Dan Meredith, Technical Instructor, Arden Ward; Cheryl Miller, Technical Instructor, Norbury Ward; Jacqui Wood, CEO Arc; me again.
For the official opening of the Art is Medicine exhibition at the Saturday Art Club, families tried their hand at some of the activities such as Blackout Poetry and Abstract Self-Portraits. The results were amazing as you can see below. With some incredible talent on display. Culminating with the very personal self-portrait of Ivy and her struggle with Type 1 Diabetes.
How we use the arts to express ourselves, what’s important to us and what’s going on in our world depends on the individual. We are all unique. And we all have our personal battles. Art is a way to help us fight and understand them. And maybe understand each other along the way.
Art is Medicine is an exhibition of art by patients on Stepping Hill’s mental health wards Arden and Norbury.
Saturday September 30th – Friday November 10th 2023.
Engaging in arts activities for wellbeing is about the process, not the result.
When a person engages in art their brain releases dopamine regardless of whether the resulting work is any good or not. It is the process of creating something that gives the benefit, not the end result. Engaging in the arts improves brain plasticity and increases neural connections.
Arc has been delivering creative wellbeing activities at Stepping Hill since the mid 1990s, engaging hundreds of patients since then. Arc has a long history of providing weekly creative writing sessions for patients on Norbury and Arden, two 24-bed adult acute in-patient wards for males and females aged 18-65 experiencing a deterioration in their mental health.
Other past projects include artist residencies in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, developing artwork for the garden space and collaborative pieces that decorate the walls. Creative activities play a key part in patients’ experience at the hospital. Working closely with the Occupational Therapy team, Arc has been able to provide activities which can distract and engage, provide a calm creative space, and also signpost patients to Arc’s Wellbeing Programmes on discharge.
“Studies have shown that expressing themselves through art can help people with depression and anxiety. And doing so has been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in healthy older people”. -The Healing Power of Art’, Harvard University
Ward staff see the value of this work and now facilitate a huge range of creative activities themselves, to the benefit of their patients. Taking part in art activities is relaxing, mindful and meditative. It can be cathartic and expressive. It can develop new skills or rekindle old ones. It can unlock skills they didn’t know they had. There are lots of very practical reasons why we might use arts activities to observe and gain insight into a patient’s illness and the level of their occupational performance.
The staff like to utilise arts in all its forms; painting, drawing, creative writing, photography, music, sculpting, printing, collage, graffiti, exploring as many techniques as possible enables patients to find something they enjoy. Not only is this a continuation of developing new-found skills, but it helps continue their therapy and aid in avoiding relapse and readmission to hospital.
Obviously, art isn’t for everyone. But one thing is for sure, when we let go of the desire for a perfect end result and simply get lost in the process, that is where the real magic happens.
Join us on Saturday September 30th from 11:00-15:00 for the launch event, where you can view the exhibition and try creative, family-friendly Saturday Art Club activities inspired by those that patients try on the wards.
The exhibition continues 10:00-16:00 on Thursdays and Fridays until 16:00 on Friday November 10th 2023.
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Declared interest: David Milligan-Croft is a Trustee/Director of arts charity Arc, as well as a Technical Instructor for Pennine Care NHS FT which manages the acute adult mental health unit at Stepping Hill Hospital. Arc does not receive financial compensation for art groups carried out at Stepping Hill Hospital and their work is entirely voluntary.
At least, that’s what Google translate tells me. It could say ‘f*ck you’ for all I know. Which would work just as well.
Saying farewell to the year in a foreign tongue has become a bit of a custom for reasons I shan’t go into right now.
Greek mythology and the divine muses have been pretty prominent for me in 2022, so it seems quite appropriate.
This year, I’ve managed to paint lots of pictures, visit lots of the Peak District and write lots of poetry. So much so, I’m hoping to publish my second collection of poetry, “Go tell the bees” some time in 2023. (I’ve even been dabbling with a book cover design for it.)
To see out the year, I thought I’d leave you with a few samples of abstract doodling which I’ve been doing quite a bit of lately. It’s a very cathartic and mindful exercise if you want to give it a go. I’ve even tried it with patients on the ward and it went down really well. (Remember, it’s about the process of doing art rather than the end result.)
It just remains for me to say, thank you for visiting my blog, your support is very much appreciated. I hope you have a very happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2023.
Keep being creative and tell those closest to you that you love them.
Here’s a little abstract doodling exercise that anyone can do.
Simply divide a page of your sketchbook up into four with masking tape. (Don’t use cello tape as it will tear the paper when you remove it.)
Next, take a pencil and randomly scribble around the four boxes. Then, do the same with a felt tip pen.
For the colour, I used a combination of oil and chalk pastels. (Mainly oil.) But you could use watercolour paint, acrylic, markers – whatever you feel like using. Just don’t try to think about it too much. Let your subconscious do the work.
Remember, this exercise is about the process of doing art as a mindfulness activity, not the result.
You don’t have to divide your page into four. Do as few or as many shapes as you want.
When you feel you’ve finished, gently peel off the masking tape and – Ta-daaahhh! Behold your masterpiece. Guaranteed to give you a little dopamine hit. (The pleasure/reward chemical in your brain.)
It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s extremely relaxing and gratifying.
Your finished work may not get hung in the Tate Modern, but that was never the objective in the first place. Doing art for its own sake and the mental wellbeing it brings was.
David Milligan-Croft
Thereisnocavalry 