An insightful and inspiring reflection from our dear student Huong on her experience of handcraft as part of her study in the course on Steiner/Waldorf Teacher Education at the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar. - Tiffany Lovegrove
“When I came to Seminar, I learned how artistic and spiritual impulses bring more depth and vitality to my work - I am not only shaping the forms but myself as well. I have new spiritual insight into what I can do with my hands, what lives in my hands.
I learn a lot about life by doing craft. It’s not buying what you want- we have to use our hands so that children can see what it is to make something. It is therapeutic and helps reduce stress. I am empowered by using my hands to do craft.
I have clear thinking of what I am doing; I have a warm feeling, and then I can do marvelous things out of this.
When I’m doing craft, I find myself very present in the moment: I enjoy seeing my hands moving with the stitch, and I can see beautiful pictures appear in my eyes, and I really enjoy it and I keep doing it in between times, for example when I’m waiting for my son to finish his lunch, I can do some craft and when he sees me sitting next to him, not saying anything, just seeing and doing my work, he feels very calm and comfortable playing around me. And I think because I’m present, I’m calm so I can bring a calm atmosphere surrounding me so my son and my family feel very comfortable to be side by side with me.
I discover that the more I use my hands on a project, the stronger my thinking is, the clearer it is in everything. This is like a practice activity to calm and train my thoughts, it focuses me.
I love it. It’s a relaxing activity. This is my first time doing cross stitch and tapestry and it’s really amazing, with my hands that I can do this kind of task! By doing this I discover that my hands can do so many things.”
Learn more about the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar here.
“When I came to Seminar, I learned how artistic and spiritual impulses bring more depth and vitality to my work - I am not only shaping the forms but myself as well. I have new spiritual insight into what I can do with my hands, what lives in my hands.
I learn a lot about life by doing craft. It’s not buying what you want- we have to use our hands so that children can see what it is to make something. It is therapeutic and helps reduce stress. I am empowered by using my hands to do craft.
I have clear thinking of what I am doing; I have a warm feeling, and then I can do marvelous things out of this.
When I’m doing craft, I find myself very present in the moment: I enjoy seeing my hands moving with the stitch, and I can see beautiful pictures appear in my eyes, and I really enjoy it and I keep doing it in between times, for example when I’m waiting for my son to finish his lunch, I can do some craft and when he sees me sitting next to him, not saying anything, just seeing and doing my work, he feels very calm and comfortable playing around me. And I think because I’m present, I’m calm so I can bring a calm atmosphere surrounding me so my son and my family feel very comfortable to be side by side with me.
I discover that the more I use my hands on a project, the stronger my thinking is, the clearer it is in everything. This is like a practice activity to calm and train my thoughts, it focuses me.
I love it. It’s a relaxing activity. This is my first time doing cross stitch and tapestry and it’s really amazing, with my hands that I can do this kind of task! By doing this I discover that my hands can do so many things.”
Learn more about the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar here.
