Down to Earth

grounded/ˈɡraʊndɪd/

adjective

well balanced and sensible.

“for someone so young, Chris is extremely grounded”

From Google Search

When you hear grounded, you may relate it to some US drama when a parent punishes a teenage child and tell them, “YOU ARE GROUNDED!” I always associated this word as a negative meaning, until I started to do Yoga 2 months ago.

My yoga teacher said:” Plant your feet on the ground, and try to feel your feet rooting deep into the ground.”

I was surprised how much I can relate to this feeling when I making ceramic.

In Yoga theory ,there is 7 Charka in our body, the bottom one they call Muladhara, means root and basis of Existence.

The energies of the Root Chakra help us to feel grounded and connected to this Earth, giving us a place for our life to ‘take root’ and for the flow of energies to propel us forward on our life journey.

https://spacioustherapy.com/1st-chakra-root-muladhara/

You can improve your Muladhara by getting closer to a tree, get hold of fossils or round stone, or eat more root vegetables. As a ceramicist , we have advantage by touching the most “grounded” material : Clay .

I truly believe this is the reason why we are feeling grounded ,because we directly touch the history of our mother land.

I had a difficult time when I gave birth to my son in 2018.

He was a calm bright baby, but I found it difficult to like him at all. When I was having a bad day, I started to blame a lot of people and my temper was just out of controlled.

I thought about finding professional help. That was until I got back into ceramic .

When I was a teenager, I did ceramic regularly and it helped me cope with anxiety and mood swing.

So I thought, maybe a few hours away from home would help.

So it started to be a regular base habit, throwing, trimming, glazing .

And I realized every time I threw a bunch of stuff and got back home, I see how my children are changed, even the air I breathe feels like it’s been changed.

I wasn’t fully aware how Ceramic practice affected me until 2020. UK announced lock down, I had no access to my Ceramic studio, unfortunately I got depressed again.

I was wondering, “Why ?” Why do I want to go to ceramic so badly?

I wasn’t sure how to explain that until I watched this video :

Ruwen Huang is a spiritual coach I followed since UK’s first lockdown in March 2020. She explained how meditation helps you connect to your soul and body. She also suggested that by doing activities you prefer to do and concentrate on what you do, will help to connect to your soul as well.

Thorwing on the wheel is that activity I prefer to do.

For me, the quietness and concentration is like being in a soul healing realm.

I believe that when potters throw, they concentrate on their breath, looking at the center of the clay, it makes their mind so centered.

And my mind is centered now.

Next research: Ceramicist touch materials from ground and how it affect our character?

Welcome to my Family Home !

I grew up in a little place called Aberdeen in Hong Kong Island ( not to be confused with the one in Scotland ). We are family of 7 , my Grandma, Mum, dad, my eldest sister , older brother, another older sister and I lived in this 3 bedroom flats since I was 1 year old. Before I was born , my family used to live on the other side of the harbor as you can see in the photo.

My grannies and my parents ran a traditional Canton Style Congee and pastry food stall. My first hand on making experience was when I was three years old. My mum gave me a little piece of dough to play with, I loved the feeling when I mould it and pile it up like a little figurine.

I was always a trouble in the family. I could not write nor spell by heart very well even when I tried very hard. My sisters and teachers really struggled to teach me academics. My sisters used to said: “This girl is smart, but such a shame she can not spell” . Unfortunately, back then they had no knowledge of dyslexia. However, I could sing aloud any song with all the lyrics and remember stories simply by listening. By the age of 5, I won a community story telling competition, even my family was so surprised what I was capable of.

My academic learning journey was bumpy right up until I was 15. I moved to a secondary school where there was focus on hands on skills. That’s where I found Ceramic , and it changed my life.

We all started by wedging clay , rolling slap with no guard but a rolling pin, kicking wheel, centering from a standing kicking wheel – tricky, but my back me for it. I was able to throw a plate in 30 seconds from the first time the teacher had taught us. And for that she challenged me to throw another 10 plates. Which I proudly managed to.

It was fun, being in the studio. I felt so settled and happy.

2 years of practice, I completed my certificate , I was so ready to move on to the only Ceramic art Degree course available in Hong Kong. Sadly , my sponsor – who was my Mum – stopped me. She didn’t believe being an artist can survive and make a living.

I was scared for my future and the idea of not being able to survive. So instead I did a Moving Image course which I thought I liked. I spent 3 years to complete the course and another three and a half years in the media industry, only to realise I didn’t enjoy it. During the time, I also lost a love one in my life. I was at a lost, so I decided to travel .

I traveled and lived in Australia for two years. I also traveled to south east Asia. I learnt a lot , and met a lot of people. However, I still felt lost.

I got better when I met my husband in Hong Kong. We moved to London together , and started a family. Unfortunately though, my mood and emotions plummeted when I gave birth to my second child.

I suffered from postnatal depression. I felt I was in a very dark place. I needed an exit. I needed a change. And that’s when I met my ceramic tutor, Yen Yu.

She introduced the idea of Wabi Sabi in her ceramic courses. At first I wasn’t sure what that was, but the calmness in her class was real; it was so present, no judgement, only embrace and complete joy on what you made during the class.

And I began to realise that although sadness is from the inside, pure joy can be simple and purely from the inside as well.

I needed to find out “How?” How could a simple piece of clay bring such a joyful moment to me? No matter the time when I was a jumpy teenager , or when I was a broken adult.

So, here I am ! I am in CSM BACD. I really wish one day , I can bring the same joy and peace to people who are lost in their feelings or purely want to enjoy a moment of quietness via Clay, this amazing material from the ground.