Blog Post #4 - Macrame and Place

What's New in Macrame

This week I finished my project of the half circle wall hanger from Hobby Lobby. It's neat for me to be able to see the lines where I started compared to the last two to three lines where I finally was able to get the hang of the macrame techniques this project required. I misplaced the instructions to see how to finish the project, so I decided to create my own way to end it by using the last strands on either end of the wood dowel to make a hanger for it, and then I unraveled the ends of the macrame cord so it would have more of a relaxed look. My main goal for this project was to be able to finish it to the best of my abilities and not worry about it turning out perfectly, so I am feeling proud of myself for accomplishing this even though there were times when I debated completely starting over. My task for this week will be to go to Hobby Lobby again to pick up some more macrame cord and officially start on my next project. After browsing YouTube for ideas, I'm thinking that next I will start to make mini macrame Christmas ornaments to give during the holiday season this year - depending on how they turn out, I suppose!

My Experience and Place

As described in the readings for this week, place is much more than just the geographical location which you are in. Rather, it is a "container of memories of experiences" (Hasselkus & Dickie, 2021, p. 41). One example of a place that would fit this definition for me is the space of the University of Minnesota campus. I served my church mission in Minnesota, and while I was there I had the opportunity to serve at the university campus for a total of six months. When I first got there, I felt completely out of place (i.e., placelessness) because I didn't know anybody in the area and I had moved to a new apartment, so nothing was familiar to me. However, after a couple of months I got to know the people there, and I was able to find meaning as the space turned into a place. This was a gradual process but looking back now, it was my favorite place I lived during the year and half total that I spent in Minnesota. Experiences that this place contains for me include getting to know the other people that I served with, stepping outside of my comfort zone as we hosted activities near the college campus such as soccer nights, and overall the experience of learning more about myself as I made these connections with others.

Space, Place, and Macrame

While my new occupation is versatile and I'm able to work on my macrame project in many different spaces, I have developed a sense of "place" from doing macrame most often on my living room couch. While my home is certainly a space which has become a place overall as it contains a great deal of meaning to me, I don't know that I had particular meaning tied to the specific space of my living room couch. However, after spending time here to complete my macrame project and take a break from other tasks such as studying for our anatomy exam, this space has become a specific and meaningful place for me to turn off my brain to outside worries and instead focus on my macrame project at hand. 

The information from the assigned reading this week applies to my new occupation by aiding me in my reflection of how the action of doing macrame has allowed me to tie meaning to the spaces which I do my new occupation in. The reading also allowed me to consider how, as a future occupational therapist, I can consider my client's spaces and their places which are meaningful to them. I think there would be a disruption in my participation of my occupation if tomorrow, somebody were to toss out my living room couch. This would disrupt my place for creating macrame, and I would need to problem-solve to create a new place within my given space. I think this would be similar to coming into a client's home and trying to make changes which would disrupt their places. "As therapists, we come into people's lives at some point in their already ongoing life narratives ... Our task is to come to understand the meaning of those places and then fit into those meanings as best we can" (Hasselkus & Dickie, 2021, p. 43). It will be important to consider not only safety modifications from a therapy standpoint, but we will also need to step into the perspective of our clients to see how their place holds meaning for them and how we can preserve this meaning while maintaining client safety and ethical practice.

My finished macrame project

References

Hasselkus, B. R. & Dickie, V. A. (2021). The meaning of everyday occupation (3rd ed.). SLACK Incorporated.