Some people create during depression. Many people, myself included, create in spurts of energy between depressive periods. The point is not that depression will necessarily kill your creativity, but that neither does it nourish it, and that if you hold any sort of romantic notion that you must “suffer for your art”, it is vital to your well-being to release that notion and devote some energy to improving your own mental health. Creativity can and will thrive when you are well.
Kim of Red Lion Mary sent us these two beautiful pieces for the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project.
These two pretty crochet mandalas come to us from Cai, who can be found on Pinterest @craftysillymama, for the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project, which she calls, “a beautiful project to raise awareness for those struggling with or caring about someone with depression”.
These two beautiful crochet mandalas (one spoke mandala and one standard 12-round mandala, each using Wink’s patterns) were contributed anonymously to the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project. This post also discusses coping mechanisms through the lens of “rubber band theory”.
These beautiful mandalas come to us from Carmen in New York for the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project.
Kierstin shares her story about why she was moved to contribute crochet mandalas to the Mandalas for Marinke project.
Thanks again to each and every contributor to the Mandalas for Marinke project. Yesterday I shared an update and some goals for the project moving forward. But today is the day for looking back at what was posted all month long in March.
Tomorrow is the last day of the month, which means that I’ll be sharing the links to all of the Mandalas for Marinke posts that went up in March. You can see all of the posts that have gone live so far on the Mandalas for Marinke page. So I thought it was a good time to give you an update on where things stand with this ongoing depression awareness project.
This blossoming crochet mandala comes to us from Cassie of Cassie McSassy Crafts. On Ravelry she shares, “I love crafting, Doctor Who, reading books, and watching TV 🙂 My favorite thing to do while crocheting/knitting is listening to audio books.”
Robyn Devine in Omaha, Nebraska crocheted this terrific mandala for our project but you may know her better for her crochet hats. She is @shemakeshats on Etsy and Instagram. On Etsy, she shares, “I’ve been knitting since 1999, and making hats almost exclusively since 2009. I love to give hats away, often taking the hat off my head to give to someone.”