Plant Pot Decoration: A volunteering activity with Discovery SVS at Swansea University
On the 31st of March 2023, a group of Discovery Volunteers decorated plant pots for an elderly care home.
In typical Welsh weather standards, the afternoon for the scheduled Beach Litter Pick was chilly and overcast with a light rain shower. This led to the Litter Pick being postponed, and an alternative plan was set in motion by our Discovery SVS project coordinators: Shaun, Maria, and Oliver. This sudden change was a reminder of the fact that life rarely goes as planned. Altering the old plan to fit the current scenario and heading forward was the best possible course of action. So, we, the volunteers, were led to the Taliesin in Swansea University by our project- coordinators for a Plant Pot Decoration activity for an elderly care home. What followed was an afternoon of friendly conversations with life lessons sprinkled throughout.
Within minutes, an assortment of art supplies was placed on the table. As I sat down, I was handed a terracotta pot, my canvas for the day. I poured a few colours from the acrylic paint bottles on my mixing palettes, chose the brushes to work with from the different shapes and sizes available, and started shaping a picture around my imagination. The skies, trees, flowers, stars, and abstracts painted by everyone were distinct from each other, unveiling the uniqueness of our personalities. The activity thus became a creative outlet for self-expression. It was mesmerising to watch how colourful the pots looked and how much everyone enjoyed the process.
The session began with everyone introducing themselves. Halfway through, we were comfortably sharing tiny snippets of our lives with each other. Realising that there were a handful of rock music enthusiasts in the group, with the consent of all others, for the next thirty minutes, Queen, Jim Adkins and a few other artists accompanied us as we painted. The friendly chatter and lively atmosphere put everyone at ease. The simple act of painting pots became a therapeutic activity. In the moments of silence between the conversations, the hands kept on with their painting of all things imaginable, and the mind began decluttering itself of its stress and anxiety.
This was not a competition of who paints the prettiest or the most pots, but there was a reward in accepting that my creation was perfectly imperfect. Realizing how at ease the process made me feel, and how the experience momentarily helped me become more in tune with my actions and emotions was what winning meant. These fleeting moments of mindfulness allowed me to connect with my inner self. Creating something from scratch made me feel a sense of accomplishment. The encouraging compliments from fellow volunteers led everyone to paint multiple pots.
We were people from different educational backgrounds, but our desire to help change society brought us together that afternoon. Knowing that the pots I painted would help beautify people’s surroundings and, as a result, uplift their mood filled my heart with joy.
At the end of the session, one of the beautifully painted pots shattered on an accidental drop. It was disheartening to watch all the efforts go in vain. But we were soon reminded by one of our coordinators of Kintsugi- a Japanese technique of fixing broken ceramics by adding a gold seam in the place of the cracks. This broken pot was later to be fixed with glue. But the incident became a metaphor reminding us to embrace our imperfections, accept the scars and create a more beautiful reality for ourselves.
The activity ended on the promise that we meet again for the next Beach Litter Pick.
Do you want to be a part of such an event? Become a Discovery Volunteer. Check out the Discovery SVS website for details of the various programmes available: https://discoverysvs.org
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Written By: Nupur Bhagat