How nurses relax
‘Centering the clay’ to center myself

By Bennie Wallace

A potter is defined as “one who makes earthenware pots, dishes, etc.”  My pottery instructor, Nan Rothwell, has been potting for 30 years, and she describes a potter as one having 17 years experience.

I’m several years short of that goal. I have always been interested in this medium but never had the opportunity to play in clay until six years ago.  After my first day at the wheel, I felt like I had been on a short vacation. What was it about putting my hands on wet clay and trying to get it centered, and then pulling the clay up into a wall that made me settle within myself and relax?  Why was I so relaxed even if I got the walls so thin they collapsed and ruined the pot?  I found that by “centering the clay,” I was also centering myself. Complete concentration on the object at hand and the joy of success when it did not collapse seems to be the answer. 

I work for Home IV Care and Nutritional Care as the Director of Nursing. We cover the whole state of Virginia and several bordering states, providing home infusion for patients as well as nutritional support. After concentrating on business for eight hours, it is wonderful to sit down at the potter’s wheel. I feel my muscles relax with a sense of knowing that a new project is about to happen, and stress begins to slide away from my body. As I visualize the shape of the clay in my mind and my fingers begin to take the positions needed to get the clay where I want it, nothing enters my mind but how to control the clay. I breathe evenly and concentrate on the joy of shaping a new bowl, vase or cylinder.  After an evening at pottery, I am relaxed and have a quiet inner peace with myself. Making pottery is the best stress buster I have found. What a way to enjoy life!