Dear LPG, 

I am not quite sure when I get most stressed out because I think that when you are at your most stressed you are usually too stressed out to realise that you have got to that stage.  As I have got a little older, I think that the thing that makes me stressed is the frustration of knowing that there is so much that I want to do which I am not getting done each day and, having spoken to a few of the people I know who are in their seventies has taught me that it is one of those things that is often the case with quite a few of us. 

I am guessing that quite a lot of the readers of this page get to that stage where the only answer sometimes is to stop what you are doing and give your mind a serious rest and, I have read that, if this is what stress feels like for you that is not a bad thing to do.

Internet advice says that you should have some exercise or do something completely different for a few minutes every 90 minutes, especially if you are doing something that demands lots of concentration.  

I have tried some of those relaxation videos that you can find on YouTube but for all the suggested instructions that are supposed to help you relax, I find myself still thinking about all the things I could be doing while I am wasting the time watching the pretty images. I think that I am one of those people that feels that they are only really doing well if they are producing a tangible result. 

Another thing that I am very aware of is that all the things I promised myself that I was going to do and try once I retired are no nearer getting started and I am over 10 years in.  One of those self-promises involved learning to do a bit of painting.   I was never any good at school according to my teachers, and sadly I have not put paintbrush to paper since.

The other day I came across a few videos which I hope that LPG have added links to below my message which mesmerised me and somehow managed to ease a degree of the stress that I think I feel, and I also found a couple of tutorials.  I really was surprised that so much can be achieved by pouring the paint and dragging bits of string, chain, brushes other than just normal paint brushes, and using so many more odd things to apply the paint. 

I am not saying that I have become an artist overnight, in fact I have only just ordered my first painting kit, but there is something very relaxing about discovering the potential artist in you.  Even if you don’t want to have a go, just watching some of the pictures being produced might be the calming influence your brain needs to help it relax, and if you do feel inspired to try it just think of all those Christmas presents you will have ready for those friends who you have real problems finding the perfect present for.     

AF, Bellingham 

AF shares some of the art videos that first motivated her…  

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…and a tutorial or two for the beginner…

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