I am a ceramic artist and potter who has enjoyed and embraced the privilege of working with clay for the last 30 years.
Arbejdsglaede or “work happiness” in my mind is essential for our Primal Wellbeing. Unlike many people today, I work with the earth (clay). Clay intrigues me in it’s entirety – its’ qualities and the processes by which it can be formed and fired to a near-permanent state. My passion motivates me to continue pursuing new and innovative ideas for my own work but I also feel that I afford my students the same opportunity in my home based studio; an environment where I can share this passion with others so that they too can enjoy creativity, vocational fulfillment and the peace that comes with it.
We need to hear how people feed their passions. These passions are in shorter supply these days and it’s a sad turn of events for the collective creativity as well as personal wellbeing of people in general. I feel that it’s so important for people to have the opportunity of delving into an activity many times over, to develop a skill for pure enjoyment and mastery’s sake as opposed to practical gain, rather than using passive entertainment.
While we may not have the same motivations as our ancestors did, toward survival or considerable hours of leisure, a good Primal Lifestyle still calls to live out that dimension of our nature through our own play and hobby work – for good reason. Those who engage regularly in self-selected leisure and creative activities report more happiness and life satisfaction, less negative stress and depressive symptoms.
Today, as in the past, I intend to continue the creative challenge, share the passion and be ever more productive in conceiving engaging new works.