Blog Post #12 - End of Macrame Project

Continuation of Macrame

It is surprising to consider that this is the last blog post of this semester-long project with creating macrame, as the past 12 weeks have gone by much quicker than I had expected. After completing this course, I don't see myself continuing with my new occupation of macrame, at least not to the extent that I have been doing it for this assignment. My walls have become full with my macrame projects, so I don't think I will have much more room to add new pieces to my home. However, I think I might continue to make macrame as gifts for others or if I find a particularly interesting design. Moving forward, I think I will spend my free time exploring other creative occupations instead of sticking only with macrame.

Overall, I do think I have benefited from my involvement in my new occupation of creating macrame. This assignment has allowed me to grow in the skill of perseverance even when my projects seemed tough, and it also allowed me to consider what it would be like teaching this occupation to a future client. Additionally, this process has allowed me to consider what it may be like to learn a new task as a client. I experienced a range of emotions as I was going through my projects including frustration when the macrame instructions were not clear, excitement when I finally started to see a project come together, and boredom when I was not excited about the projects I was completing. I image that clients who are learning or re-leaning a new occupation might experience a similar range of emotions as well.

Course Topics, Occupational Therapy, and Making Meaning

Three key topics which we have studied in class that have been influential in learning about occupational therapy and making meaning are occupational storytelling (week twelve), occupational identity (week eight), and occupational well-being (week nine). Occupational storytelling was impactful for me as I considered the story behind deciding to choose macrame for my new occupation. There were outside factors and contributors to my story, such as the influence of art I had seen at craft fairs and comments made by my mom and husband. There were also internal factors such as the personal admiration and beauty I saw within macrame art pieces created by others. All of these factors contributed to the occupational story of myself deciding to choose macrame for this course project. I also found occupational identity to be an influential topic, as we discussed in class how this idea refers to how our own identity is closely related to the occupations we participate in. Because I consider being a creative individual as part of my identity, it seems appropriate that I chose a creative occupation. A third topic which I found important was occupational well-being. Also as discussed in class, occupational well-being refers to how we can find a sense of health and well-being as we participate in meaningful occupations. Overall, I did feel a sense of well-being through participating in my new occupation

Recommendations

Recommendations I have for future MOT students when choosing a new occupation are to choose something that you think you will enjoy but is also challenging, and to choose an occupation that won't take a lot of your time throughout the week. I recommend choosing something you enjoy because, for me, this project was something I could look forward to as a way to take a break from the many assignments, projects, and exams we have during graduate school. I knew I would enjoy something that was creative, so that is why I chose macrame. However, I would also recommend choosing something that is challenging so it continues to be interesting during the whole semester. I often wished I had chosen something more challenging so I would have more to write about for blog posts and so that I could have seen more personal growth. Additionally, I recommend choosing an occupation that is not too time consuming because our schedule is very full already, so choosing an occupation which allows for flexibility might be less stressful and allow for more joy while participating in the occupation.