In the spirit of continual learning (and play!), my partner and I joined a local pottery club for around 6 months, learning the ceramic skills of both hand-building and using a pottery wheel.
While any creative process reflects Life in profound ways, here is what I have learned as a beginner in this craft:
- Any form of creativity is therapeutic – working with the elements (earth, water, fire, air), even more so. It encourages experimentation with mindfulness.
- Practice acceptance. The outcome will never be exactly as you picture it to begin with.
- Change and failure are inevitable. Embrace the process.
- Practice letting go. There is so much beyond your control – every medium has its own nature, and you are in co-creation.
- The relationship between creator and creation is sacred. Energy is always exchanged. Please learn to create more yourself – there is something so beautiful about drinking or eating out of a vessel you shaped with your own hands. Or seeing your own artwork on your walls every day. Where possible, buy from local creators/producers. Get to know them – become familiar with the energy infused in your purchases.
- Centering and stabilising require a lot of support (clay on the wheel is literally creativity in motion. It requires intense focus and your whole body-weight to hold the clay in position). It can be a reminder that we need support to stay centred, too.
- Patience truly is a virtue – when you rush the process, the clay won’t allow you to shape it in certain ways or add certain features. Creation is a melody – timing is key. Find freedom within the boundaries.
- The balance between effort and ease is central to finding a flow. This is a yogic principle also: sthira and sukham. When we push too hard, our creation can collapse. When we are too soft, our creation won’t take shape. Finding that sweet spot takes practice, and it can change from day to day.
While I am leaving this town, and placing this practice aside for now, ceramic creation is something I would love to continue elsewhere. However, I will continue to learn in the classroom of element Earth.
