Stop Stressing Out Your Kids

Focus on a cloud  - MM Sikes

Stop Stressing Out Your Kids was the topic of a February 11 segment on the NBC Today show. The discussion centered on how children from elementary age through college are more stressed out today than ever before. They live in a more competitive world. They have concerns about the economy. They're over-scheduled and feel pressure at home.

At school the children are unable to focus and concentrate due to this stress. They suffer from headaches, stomach aches, insomnia, and emotional problems.

A way to overcome these problems is to teach coping strategies. Teaching children to take a deep breath was one of the strategies mentioned.

I had to smile because for a number of years I've been using that strategy in my art classroom. As soon as the children come in and sit down I have them close their eyes, take a deep breath and focus on something. It might be a star, a cloud, a circle, a colored dot, a square--whatever seems appropriate for the day's art work. I want them to relax and concentrate. Some of them are coming in from outside or from a physical education class, so they really need a moment to relax and regroup.

When I first started doing this little relaxing exercise, I planned to do it just for the day and then I decided to do it for another week or so. But then I found it worked well with them to help gain focus and the children came in expecting to do it. Now I am seeing it as more important than ever. It's a little like the deep breathing exercises used in yoga which also help with focus and relaxation.

The NBC program concluded with the suggestion that the child might have a positive mantra to say to himself or aloud. The suggestion was, "Go away, worries; don't bother me."

Perhaps I should add a mantra to my relaxing exercise. It might be, "Focus and let my creativity flow."

My wish and hope is for children who have a time to decompress at home and a place to feel unstressed in my art classroom.

Unclutter to Gain Focus

"Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on ....." That's what I tell my art students every day at the beginning of each class.

Focus.

That's what we as creative people must do to be successful. And some of us need to unclutter our spaces in order to gain focus. But that's hard. It takes time that most of us do not have.

This morning, I was interested to read Annie Tobey's article in V Magazine for Women about her decision to unclutter her work space. Inspired by Feng Shui columns by Debbie Bowie, she'd been thinking about organizing her at home office for a while and is "thrilled with the results."

When I look around at my own work space clutter, I am overwhelmed. With each item moved from my desk, I run the danger of not finding it next time I need it. After all I've gotten used to digging into a pile at just the right place and pulling out a valuable resource. Is it possible to be too organized?

Not only do I have my writer's desks and bookcases inside my office, but I have an artist studio, a drawing room, and an art closet to manage. Thankfully, they are a little better organized than my writing life.

I wonder if other writers face similar troubles.

In my art studio

Does clutter detract from your focus? 

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Night Watch book trailer is a finalist on Spunk on a Stick . Thank you to those who voted and made it a finalist. Thank you Diane Wolfe for creating this contest!

Please take a look at the trailers and vote. Here is the link to my Night Watch trailer which was created by Betty Ann Harris:

Night Watch You Tube

Creativity Focus - What Makes You Lose It?

As an art teacher for more than 360 elementary school children, I recognize the importance of focus for creative people. That’s why for the past several years I have used a little ritual with my students when they first enter the classroom.

I have the children close their eyes, take a long, silent breath and “see” in their minds a color, shape, or something else that may relate to the day’s project. I ask them to focus on that image, take another long, silent breath, then open their eyes. My intention is for them to forget about the games they’ve been playing outdoors or the work they’ve been doing in their classroom and just let their imaginations take over to see in their minds what they wish to create.

Many things can cause a creative person to lose focus. I hear often about those who have “writer’s block.” I’ve never had that problem. Instead, I have focus block. Especially during baseball season.

When I was a small child, I followed and loved the St. Louis Cardinals. In late evening, my grandmother and I tuned into KMOX, the voice of St. Louis, on our radio, and we listened to all the games. It was my passion, my focus. Although my mother scolded me for being a baseball fanatic, I never gave up following the Cardinals until I had children of my own to raise. Then, when Mark McGwire had the memorable season during which he hit 70 home runs and broke the long-standing home run record, I began following the Cardinals again. Like many other people, McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought me back to baseball. This year, part of the excitement of spring training for me and many others was getting the chance to meet Mark McGwire, the Cardinals new hitting coach.

Now I plan in March of each year to take a trip to Jupiter, FL for St. Louis Cardinals spring training. While there, we get to visit with the players and watch them train and play games at beautiful Roger Dean Stadium. From that moment on until late October (in the years when they make the play-offs), I am hooked. Now, instead of listening to the radio, I follow the Cardinals by watching all their games on satellite TV.

For almost eight months each year, I lose my writing and my artistic focus. I still write and paint during those months, but I plan my time around the games. In fact, I am so enthralled with baseball that when we go on vacation, the first thing I look for is a good sports bar where I can watch live Cardinal games!

Probably not many other writers and artists share my baseball passion, but I suspect there are other things that cause them to lose focus. Do you have a vice or passion that alters your creative time? I would love to know more about the creative focus of other writers and artists.