Creative Coping
As the world has continued to adapt and make sacrifices in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sisters and Associates have found new ways to manage the daily changes in their lives. This series takes a look at the creative ways a few of our Community members have dealt with these days of staying home and staying cautious in 2020.
S. Marie Irene Schneider
In the pandemic’s beginning (March 2020), after my sister and I had to move our rooms from Seton 3 to the Motherhouse, I knew that I needed to be able to do something (besides my work in the sacristy). So I dug into my collection of yarn and found several balls of crocheting thread. I decided to make a ‘coronavirus doily.’ The balls of thread had been given to me by S. Mary Pauline Tsai when she moved to Mother Margaret Hall many years ago. I had several booklets of patterns. Yes, I really had to refresh my ability to read directions, and so I made a coronavirus doily and had such a good experience that I have made about eight to 10 more and put them in the parlors under lamps and under statues, etc. The late S. Mary Maude Potvin taught me to crochet when I was in sixth grade and always insisted that I learn to read directions! Am I ever glad that she did? I probably will continue my creations until the thread is gone, then I will return to crocheting baby hats for Good Samaritan Hospital!
S. Marie Irene Schneider has enjoyed crocheting doilies for many to enjoy.
S. Annette Paveglio
When S. Monica Gundler was first here at the Motherhouse at the beginning of the pandemic, she held some Tai chi movement sessions for those here at the Motherhouse to participate in. I went to them, but with many things going on, the list of movements got buried under a pile of other papers. About five weeks ago, I came across it and thought, I sure could use some help. So, I went to Joy through Movement on YouTube, and found Carmen, who leads her audience in all the 20 movements. I started with the first five, then continued to add on after time, and have been trying to do all 20 daily because I have found it prayerful, peaceful, and it seems to lessen my anxiety and, in balancing the energy in me, helps to lighten this heavy time. The movements are slow, and one can mirror Carmen the whole time. One only needs to Google Joy through Movement, and Carmen should easily be found to follow on the site.
S. Annette Paveglio enjoys learning Tai chi movements through the YouTube tutorials Joy through Movement.
S. Ann Hunt
“Before I came to Mother Margaret Hall (MMH), I used to make inspiration bottles as gifts. Consequently I thought about having inspiration bottles replace plants on the window sills of the third and fourth floor breezeways between MMH and St. Mary’s, as a way of helping us through these difficult times. Stop by and get inspired!
“The bottles are wine and empty coke bottles that have colored tissue paper as a base. Inspirational thoughts gleaned from magazine ads are pasted on the tissue paper. The entire bottle is then covered with a glue that has a gloss to it.
“I then began to brainstorm … how possible would it be to bring some wood from Seton Hall before it is taken down, to serve as wooden bases for the bottles? It worked! Each bottle sits on a cedar wooden base taken from the closets of the rooms in Seton Hall. Talk about recycling and repurposing while at the same time having a meaningful memory! Special thanks to all who made this project a reality. I am grateful.”
Ann Hunt has been making inspiration bottles during these pandemic months.
Inspiration bottles sit in the hallways of Mother Margaret Hall and St. Mary’s to offer inspiring quotes and thoughts for those passing by.