Why an artist?
A man who works with his hands is a labourer, a man who works with his hands and his mind is a craftsman, but a man who
works with his hands, his mind and his heart is an artist. - Louis Nizer (1902-1994)
I have never had a hobby in my life, as there never was a spare moment since I left school, my work came before everything. That was the way of life I had chosen for myself and I loved every minute of it.
As soon as I left Denny High School I started up a window cleaning business which was great in the nicer weather but terrible in the winter when there was a hard frost or ice. Through customer requests I started a carpet cleaning service which I could do in the winter months instead, as usual being a perfectionist word quickly spread and my carpet cleaning side grew and grew.
When I was 20 years old I joined Central Scotland Fire & Rescue Service as a fully retained fire-fighter at Denny Fire Station, so now when I was either at work cleaning carpets locally during the day or at home in the evening my pager/bleeper would sound for a call out, the calls came often, around 450 – 500 per year.
For 16 years I had my own business and during 13 of those I was also responding to call-outs too, I was really busy night and day, working up to 90 hours a week was not uncommon for me, I was even working the day I got married, worked up until 12:30pm married in the church at 2pm.
Anyway, due to family pressure I eventually sold my cleaning business to and became employed by Munters ( who I used to clean water damaged carpets, oriental rugs and upholstery for ) , they are the largest water damage restoration company in the world, I was all over Scotland and North of England driving 1000 miles per week, my future was very secure although the stress levels were building and building.
I loved my new job, however, a couple of years later I had an accident at work, my back was broken and 3 vertebrae were out of line. Now living with chronic back pain which rules my life, very limited mobility and very depressed.
My life was pure hell, until a few years later I got a small lathe and started turning very small items from wood, this raised my mood and I started to feel not so useless anymore. This also helped focus my mind and was a form of distraction so I was not thinking about the pain I was in, it also helped a little with the depression as I was being productive, along with breathing excercises learned at the pain clinic I can work for short periods before I have to stop. Not quite the way I expected my life to go, but I suppose it could have been worse!
Some days I am not able to go out to my workshop due to the pain in my back, this dramatically lowers my mood, and frankly I can not be bothered with life, let alone my hobby. But on the days I feel up to it, I really get a buzz from being constructive, I don`t feel quite so useless anymore, life becomes a little better, and I am a little nicer to be around.
As a footnote to this page I would like to add that following my accident I became very depressed and stayed in bed all day, my life had stopped, I could not cope with this situation, I no longer had a future and my life became worthless. Even things like the sexual abuse I suffered as a child by a family member who was meant to protect me was always at the back of my mind but too busy to think about it when working had now become an issue as I had lots of thinking time and eventually had to get therapy to help me. I began self-harming as a coping mechanism and to relieve some of the pressure that builds up inside me, I am trapped inside of this body now with chronic pain being part of my life, limited mobility and unable to do some of the simplest of tasks that most people take for granted, if only I could step out of this feeble frame and step into another which works better leaving the pain behind that gradually grinds you down every day, eventually I was admitted into The Priory in Glasgow for depression then through time my phsyciatrist referred me to the Caledonia Clubhouse.
Caledonia Clubhouse helps you be part of a team, giving you a more work ordered day. I work in the upstairs unit helping with the day to day running of the Clubhouse, mostly on computers making signs, updating finance and working towards getting our bi-monthly newsletter finished before the deadline.
This place is extra special to me, I feel safe and secure when I`m there, all the members are brilliant and I have made a lot of friends, my outlook on life is now a little more positive!
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Copyright © Mark Ligget 2008
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