Affordances Continued...

This blog will be a continuation of affordances from last time looking at a few more aspects: Aesthetics, Spirituality and Health.

Aesthetics is “a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty” (Aesthetics, 2011). Spirituality is the “beliefs and practices that give a person transcendent meaning in life” (Puchalski, 1996). Health defined by the World Health Organization (n.d), is “the complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease” and the effects things can have on it. 

“Cross-stitch could be seen as representative of the general leisure industry; an industry that is establishing its development and design cycle with the growth of the personal computer market. Cross-stitch is a hobby that is based on a traditional approach [Gui98]- a time-honoured activity with cross-cultural interest. It is widely used as an inexpensive method of therapeutic relaxation which has the added advantage of creating a visually appealing outcome that may be given as a gift to a friend or loved one!”. (Atkinson & Roberts, 1999, p. 2)

Aesthetics
Cross stitching is quite a tactile and hands on activity acting on a couple of the body's’ senses - sight and touch. The patterns chosen and the use of the variation in colours is important in bringing a pattern to life and can be aesthetically pleasing to the individual viewing the piece.
I am a perfectionist when it comes to doing the cross stitching and believe that the cross stitch is not completed unless I’m satisfied with the outcome.
I use the finished products to decorate my bedroom and so that I can view the remarkable work I have created. I have also made a couple of cross stitches as gifts.
This activity can also lend it self to communicating with others on different levels from sitting in a room with others while creating the cross stitch to having people viewing them once completed asking about why I did it.

Spirituality
Memories can be preserved within the craft and as years go by I can look over the completed cross stitching that are hanging up on my wall and reminisce on all the effort put into it and where I was at that stage of my life. My grandmother taught me how to cross stitch passing on history of the craft from her generation to mine. This will probably be something I will pass down to my children.
There are many lessons that I have learned from cross stitching such as patience - sitting down for a couple hours at a time, following something though to the end and seeing the slow but steady progress that I’m making. Also that the end product is a reward in itself as it shows all the long hours and creation that has gone into it especially in the selection of the  frame and the color of the border.
Celebration and the sense of caring can be seen through the effort and thought that goes it to selecting, creating and presenting a cross stitch that it is given to someone as a gift. The latest one that I created as a gift was for my brother and his wife for their wedding. I chose to make on for them as it adds more of a personal meaning to both myself and them being something that has been made for them rather than something store brought.
When I view other people’s cross stitchings I can relate to them on a more personal level knowing exactly how much time and effort goes into creating such a master piece.
Doing cross stitching is a way to uplift my soul as well as being a way to express myself, making me feel less stressed about the busy everyday lifestyle. It also defines who I am and some of the things that I like can be projected through the patterns and colours used.

Health
Cross stitching is an activity that doesn't require a lot of energy thus can be done any time of day even when feeling a bit lethargic. For me it is a way to relax and De-stress from a busy day. It also gives me a sense of well-being in that it’s a product of my own individualization and all the long hours that I have put into creating the piece. It also requires a high level of vision to see the holes in the cross stitching canvas. Having a high level of dexterity and fine motor skills of the fingers are also very useful to maneuver the needle and thread through the canvas.