Reflections on Wellness, Self-Esteem, and My Jazzy Pursuit of Neuroplasticity
You'll find your way
Tomorrow or today
There's nothing else I can say
To ease your mind
— from "I Can Say to You" by Butcher Brown ft. Vanisha Gould
For the last 10 weeks or so, I’ve been at Spruill Arts Center in Dunwoody, GA almost every single Friday from 6-8pm. Doing what, you may ask? Stained glass, babe. Stained glass.
In those 10 sessions, which sadly ended this Friday, June 16th, I was able to complete two stained glass pieces. The first is a square, straight-edge piece with neutral colors and the second is a more ambitious circular piece with a cool blue and purple palette. I think they’re super cute and I’m very proud of them.
But long before I hung them up in my window, I paid my $225, got my apron, my safety glasses, and my silver Sharpie and got to work! It was hard work, but the lesson here is that we can do hard things and have a good time at the same time. We call that ✨duality✨.
Okay so, tl;dr: 1) pick a design 2) pick your glass 3) cut the glass 4) grind the glass 5) foil the glass 6) solder the glass 7) polish the glass and add some patinaaaa and voila there you have a stained glass piece.
If you’ve met me in this life, you know that I don’t enjoy social situations in dark, loud, and crowded places. Unfortunately for me, Atlanta is a city with a social scene famously hinged on those exact kinds of spaces: hookah lounges, clubs of many varieties, and stressful first dates at incredibly dark restaurants. Just noise, alcohol, sweat, and flashing lights everywhere all the time. It’s mad overstimulating. But I figured that this couldn’t be the entire social scene of Atlanta on a Friday night, so I worked hard to find some alternatives.
And that’s how we got here. I was tired of being inside, but I didn’t necessarily want to be outside in them streets! So, as the problem-solver I strive to be, I redefined what a Friday night outside looked like for me.
I chose stained glass, specifically, because it hit all the boxes I needed: something on Friday nights, something challenging, something positive, and something that’d address 2 or more dimensions of wellness.
I learned in Never Get Angry Again by David Lieberman, that making responsible choices increases our self-esteem. Self-esteem is about how we feel about ourselves. Signing up for stained glass class felt like a good, responsible choice of activity because I was doing something positive that had long-term benefits. One of those benefits is my new fave obsession: neuroplasticity.
I read about our ability to impact our brain’s development in How to Change by Katy Milkman. Neuroplasticity is “the ability of the brain to form and reorganize the connections between nerves, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury.” Put simply, it’s the capacity for our brain cells to change in response to our behavior. This is what keeps our brains sharp and combats mental decline as we age.
A key part of promoting neuroplasticity is learning new, challenging skills, and that’s what attracted me to that classroom.
Stained glass quickly revealed itself to be the perfect combination of artistry and craftsmanship. Exploring what types of colors and textures would go best in the piece paired with learning how to use the machines and tools needed to complete a piece really allowed me to stretch and establish new pathways that didn’t exist before. It reminded me of the many years I spent playing the violin. Artistry paired with precision, strengthening both sides of my brain with every class, rehearsal, and performance. I miss it, honestly. But I’m happy I could experience that again here!
Finally, I’ve been very interested in addressing the 8 dimensions of wellness in my life. My old therapist put me on to these early last year and I haven’t let them go since. The 8 dimensions of wellness are a framework for approaching the different ways in which we can be well. They are physical, spiritual, financial, emotional, occupational, environmental, intellectual, and social.
I really enjoyed this experience because it addressed those latter two dimensions: intellectual and social. Not only was it stretching me intellectually by learning a new skill, but it also stretched me socially by interacting with new people from different backgrounds. We’re not besties or anything, but it was great fun spending time with them, chatting briefly while working diligently on our pieces, and getting to know each other, if only a little bit.
I was able to challenge myself. And also ask for help when I needed it. I took breaks when I was tired or frustrated. And, no matter what, never allowed myself to quit. It felt like a nice exercise to strengthen my muscle of tenacity. I didn’t always feel my best, some days I was fr just sad, but I showed up in spite of; anyway. I focused on what I was doing and I paid attention and I made art.
And I made art without pressuring myself to be a full-blown stained glass artist. My pieces aren't perfect or really precise because I’m very much a beginner lol, but they’re my pieces. I find them beautiful and I’m very happy with how they came out and I didn’t let my pursuit of perfection detract from my work and experience. I worked hard in every single class. I focused, I literally grinded, and I even put my NAILS on the line when it really came down to it (no nails were harmed in this process, thank God). And though I know they aren’t the best pieces ever and I took much longer than other people in the class, they look good TO ME. That’s enough.
I found beauty in diligence, in sacrifice, in patience. I found beauty in going into that room and getting the job done. That’s what makes those pieces beautiful to me. They are physical examples of what I can do when I put my mind to something frfr.
I also gained an additional 2-2.5 hours of screen-free time every single week. Focusing on something intricate with my hands without distractions was so relaxing and enjoyable! This also allowed me to lean into the Ahmad Jamal Trio Radio on Spotify. Ain’t nothin like grinding a piece of glass that you’ve spent THREE classes on to “Rhumba No. 2” in your ears as the sun sets. I already loved Ahmad, we knew that, but his discography was great company in those classes. Those Friday nights were so ordinary on paper yet so rich in experience. I hope to remember those moments for a long time to come.
I am more confident in trying new things, especially in visual art. Before taking this class, anything related to visual arts intimated me and whenever I tried it, I’d get self-conscious and frustrated very easily. But now, I feel very capable of hopping into a painting or ceramics class because I know that this ain’t life or death. I don’t have to be perfect, my art doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s all just expression and it’s up to me to provide myself freedom of mediums.
I really believe those Friday evenings were time well-spent. I enjoyed my hours there and would highly recommend it to anyone. It was a chance to build a new skill in a safe, supportive, and well-lit environment.
My physical takeaway is two pieces of handmade art I can keep in my home forever. A true conversation piece. When you visit my home in a decade or so, and I welcome you to my sunroom or perhaps my wrap-around front porch, you’ll see them hanging and dancing in the sunlight. We’ll chat about it, of course. Because I didn’t spend several classes grinding these pieces not to talk about my experience with the people I care about lmao.
Will I take another stained glass class? Maybe. Will I do stained glass on my own? Absolutely not. Will I take another art class? Hopefully. But I’m actually hoping to use the rest of the summer to learn how to play chess fr (s/o Justin and Asia for their encouragement and brain cells). The pursuit of neuroplasticity and overall wellness continues!
