By Patrick McNerthney
Years ago, when I was young and spry, I decided to join a volunteer fire department. But it turns out you can’t just “join” a public service dedicated to life and death situations and the preservation of property. Nope, you have to apply, excel during a bunch of group interviews, get selected, pass a physical, and then graduate from a 12-week firefighting academy.
Which I did.
Although I had to work extra hard to graduate from that firefighting academy because, of the 22 “cadets,” I had the least experience with tools. And there are SO many tools firefighters use—chainsaws, circular saws, hydraulic cutters (to cut open automobiles), hydraulic spreaders (a.k.a. “The Jaws Of Life,” also for automobiles), pikes, pickaxes, Halligan bars, spanner wrenches (to connect hose couplings and open fire hydrants, all different colors and shapes but you can always tell when you see one because they smell of dog pee)…okay, okay I’ll stop there. And we haven’t even started on all the safety gear!
Indeed, while my classmates excelled with all this stuff from the git-go, I had to spend extra time (when no one else was around) practicing with each tool to understand how it worked because, at the time, I didn’t even know how to hang a picture (do you use a hammer and nail…or a screw gun and a screw…or just glue…who knew?)
(Ah yes, the ol’ “just put it on the table” move. My favorite.)
But it’s all good. I applied myself, put in the hours, and as previously mentioned, graduated. The upside was, I felt pretty cool for not only understanding how to use the tools, but also for understanding the scenarios they applied to. That’s right! I was suddenly cool, and CONFIDENT.
So here’s the thing: the world is full of tools, techniques, suggestions, and advice. In fact, there’s SO MUCH of this stuff around these days that it’s hard to figure out not only how to use it, but whether it even applies to your particular scenario! In my firefighting example, I was lucky, because I ALREADY KNEW that all the tools I had to learn applied to my situation—they’d been tested, and deemed useful, by tens of thousands of firefighters before me.
(I feel like the Internet just yells advice at me, even when I don’t ask for it.)
Over to you. There’s a lot of noise in the world, much of which claims to be helpful—and yes, especially for your work as a caregiver of the elderly, children with challenges, or anyone needing help with life’s daily tasks. Understanding what really works for your situation can be a powerful filter. And that’s where Fine Art Miracles (FAM) comes in.
FAM champions creative expression as the perfect tool to help your residents and loved ones overcome the anxiety and depression they still experience because of social isolation. That’s because it turns out the act of simply making reconnects your residents and loved ones with their confidence, self-worth, sense of mastery, optimism, and belief that they matter to their friends, family, community, and outside world.
Programs like Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Multi-Sensory Sessions, Dance & Movement Therapy, Drama Therapy (and so much more) are both easy tools to learn how to use and tailor-made for your work fighting the anxiety and depression caused by social isolation. And FAM has been at this game for long enough, so that just like the firefighters before me, you can rest assured creative expression has been vetted as a useful tool by both FAM, and all sorts of caregivers who’ve come before you.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s learn how to use some awesome tools! Call FAM today or drop them a note so they can answer any questions you may have and get you started.
Well, I have this new budgeting tool for my household and it’s driving me nuts. It’s a software program that’s supposed to be “intuitive” but I can’t figure one bit of it out. Ah well, looks like I’ll have to put in some extra work to understand how to use it. The bummer is that it won’t be even half as fun as using a chainsaw!
