Healing: Caring for Yourself through Play, Art and Beauty
Serving as CRCC Clergy can be stressful and isolating. This guide helps you see play, art, and beauty as healing activities outside of the church.
The 2025 Wespath Health Survey1 showed that although some areas of concern have improved since the 2023 survey, they remain at concerning levels. Ongoing concerns include functional difficulties, perceived stress, and limited vacation time. Areas that worsened compared to 2023 include aspects of cholesterol health and spiritual wellbeing.
Finding time for play, art, and beauty can feel stressful. However, there are ways to engage in these activities that support and center the vagus nerve without even leaving your desk. There are also opportunities in your area or nearby that offer meaningful programs and events at little to no cost.
Play: Laughing, deep breathing, singing, and movement are all simple ways to improve wellbeing. Keeping play items on your desk—such as a slinky, a pop it, a fidget pen, or even Play-Doh—can make it easier to engage in play throughout the day. If your church has a preschool or daycare, spend some time with the children. Laughing and playing with kids is cathartic and can even help lower blood pressure. Join a community team sport or a craft club. Get involved in community theater or game nights. Color. Engage in a relaxed, fun activity.
Art: Create a wall of pictures in your office. Decorating it with joyful items, homemade art, inspirational sayings, and bright colors can support healing. Take time to walk around your church buildings, which are often filled with meaningful objects. Don’t forget to notice stained glass windows, which can be especially stunning at different times of day. Consider visiting a local art gallery or museum; these spaces are typically quiet and offer places to sit without time constraints. Many libraries also provide creative opportunities, such as access to equipment like 3D printers or free crafting events for members.
Beauty: Beauty surrounds us, yet it is easily overlooked when we are trying to heal. If your office has a window, intentionally schedule time to look outside while focusing on your breathing. Add plants to your office and watch them grow or consider a small fishbowl with a brightly colored fish. Spend time in nature by planting a garden or wildflowers observing their growth. Snip flowers, place them in water, and bring them to your desk as a reminder of beauty throughout the day.
The most important thing to remember is that your healing is your responsibility, and it will not happen over time without acknowledging the hurt and working on healing the wound. Healing occurs when you intentionally dedicate time and energy to addressing what is wounded. Remember what flight attendants say during a loss of cabin pressure: put on your own mask first before helping others. Do the same for yourself.
1 https://issuu.com/wespath/docs/2025_clergy_well-being_survey_results
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