Thinking how art boosts wellbeing, I recently heard an interview with Charlie Mackesy, whose first book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse (2019) has become a bestseller, particularly during the pandemic. Charlie has worked as an artist and illustrator and his work features in other writers’ books but also in private collectionsContinue reading “Picture A Story”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Creative Company
Maybe one of the main ways music, art and nature can boost wellbeing is by drawing people together, creating common ground to share. This can help combat loneliness: and this is Loneliness Awareness Week (14-18 June). This year’s theme is Acceptance, highlighting that everyone feels lonely sometimes. The idea is that by talking more openlyContinue reading “Creative Company”
Opportunities To Recharge?
Caring for a family member or other loved one is one situation where art, music and nature could all open up life. But if nature, music and art are to become ways for carers to recharge, then it’s important to see not only how and why they might help, but also how and why theyContinue reading “Opportunities To Recharge?”
Restore
What an irony it is that at a time when we are turning to nature more and more to boost wellbeing, nature’s own predicament is itself contributing to many people’s anxiety and depression. It’s an irony which mirrors this year’s World Environment Day theme. World Environment Day falls on 5 June each year, run byContinue reading “Restore”
Strike A Chord
Different music genres’ own unique contributions to wellbeing have been the focus of recent Medley blog posts on music, from musicals to folk to ballet – and I hope to return to this theme to explore other genres. But this time I want to look at music for wellbeing from another angle, by concentrating onContinue reading “Strike A Chord”
Common Ground
Hearing the theme of Creativity And Wellbeing Week 2021 reminded me of the striking Banksy artwork which was first seen in Southampton last year. It shows a boy casting aside his superhero dolls for a doll dressed as a nurse: the true superheroes of the pandemic. Creativity recognizing the importance of care. So what thenContinue reading “Common Ground”
Free To Connect
By opening people’s eyes to nature and the great outdoors, lockdown’s new perspective throws up questions about how and why people respond to nature so strongly and why it can have such a positive impact on our mental health. So it is no wonder that the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (10-16Continue reading “Free To Connect”
Eyes And Ears
While Medley highlights how art, music and nature can improve wellbeing for anyone and everyone, I also want to focus on specific ways they can help people in particular circumstances, like hearing loss. We’re now in the middle of Deaf Awareness Week (4-9 May), which is run every year across all different organisations involved withContinue reading “Eyes And Ears”
Crafting Away
Fuelled by the times we live in, craft is booming. With Covid-19 lockdowns, many have turned to craft to occupy themselves or to make scrubs and masks. And as awareness grows of the climate emergency, people are reducing, reusing and recycling more, and upcycling as well. TV programmes like Sewing Bee and The Repair ShopContinue reading “Crafting Away”
A Step In Time
Ballet might seem to be more about movement than music, but music is clearly integral to ballet’s impact: so it’s the latest music genre I’m exploring in my occasional series on why different styles of music might boost wellbeing in different ways. One genre I recently focused a blog post on was musicals, songs fromContinue reading “A Step In Time”
