Not The Amount of Work We Do

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 211, 22 September 1937, Page 14

Not The Amount of Work We Do

But The Pace That Kills

TT is not the amount of work we do, but the pace, that kills, Look at passers-by in the street, and you will find them making tense, awkward movements, adopting ungraceful postures. This is due to taut muscles, and the strain and tension of their bodies is clearly visible on their faces. Look at your own face in the mirror. Can you see little lines of fatigue or an expression of anxiety? The cause is the acceleration modern life demands, the rushing here and there, and the mere mechanised distraction that do not distract. In short, you are living at high tension. You haven't the secret of unconscious rhythm and relaxation. Only down in some of the smaller -villages tucked away in the heart of the country do you. come, across the look of quiet serenity which " indicates natural peace of mind and body. That gives us a guide— the peace is partly mental and partly physical. If you can reduce mental strain and physical tension, you will go a long way towards attaining the cairn outward appearance which tells of inward ease. Muscular Tension. There is such a close relationship between mind and hody that disturbances in one will set up disturbances in the other Undue emotional excitement will create muscular tension, so control of the emotions is one step towards relaxation. Such control does not mean that the emotion must be repressed by sheer force of will, for it will still remain in the subconscious mind. It is better to express it in some other way. The psychologist calls it "sublimation." He recommends that in the case of anger, for instance.-. we should express it by "attacking" the ground — in other words, by putting" in some hard gardening ! This really does make the mentai strain pass quickly. * Enjoy your work. Many people fail through trying too hard ! Continued strong effort is killing, because of the muscular and nervous tension induced. Work smoothly and rhythmically; work to music if/ you can — at the least you can always hum to yourself. It creates a favourable attitude and reduces tension. Even if work allows little change, leisure activities- are entirely under your own control. When a job demands a great deal of attention to detail, thus Involving much mental stress, let physical recreation consist of games that require little thought, of simple rhythmic exercises, or of swimming. Sports such as these call into play only the large muscles of the body, and close co-ordination is not required. The nervous system relaxes, and the feeling of tension disappears, Patcliwork Embroidery. Women who are fond of needlework *are now taking up patch-work embroidery. All kinds of different little patterns and colour schemes are combined, and the finished piece of work is most interesting and gay. As there are many designs in one specimen, there is nothing monotonous in the working of even a large article. Any plain material with a firm weave can be jused ~aa feickground, Some

of the best results are obtained with unbleached linen crash, the pleasant oatmeqj. colour of which forms a splendid foil for stitcheries of rainbow hues. Mark out -the crash with a ruler and chalk pencil, drawing haphazard squares, triangles, and oblongs on to it, so that the foundation looks like. crazy paving. Feather stitch the lines in black wool, to give the effect of many differently shaped patches joined together, like the quilts of great-grandmother's day. Each patch-shaped fragment has to be filled with different bits of wool embroidery. You can try out all kinds of original ideas inside the little squares and rectangles, but remember that the finished effect is supposed to look as much like a patchwork of fabric pieces as possible, and work some conventional check designs in stem-stitch or chain-

stitch, to represent striped gingham and the like. Groups of satin-stitch spots in various colours and sizes, too, look well, xepresenting spotted fabrics, and the conventional embrolderies will contrast agreeably with the fiowery onesThere are many ways of using the patchwork embroidery. The energetic woman will enjoy making an entire bedspread, which will be ideal in a periodstyle cottage bedroom. Othjers will content themselves with sofa cushion-covers or with embroidering the tops of cushioned window seats. Shoe Fashions. Plain shoes with print dance frocks, and printed shoes for wear with plain fabric dresses that have some of the print appearing in sash, short-waisted jacket and gloves. This is a fashion that is adding to the gaiety of the "dance floor at evening parties just now. Shoes are being covered in cotton prints as well as patterned crepe-de-chine and linen.