After learning about the assignment to start a new occupation and in line with our goal to be self reflectors to be good therapists I realized I love a new hobby or I now know to call them occupations. However, the thought of coming up with a new craft or sport to learn while starting grad school made me feel panicky. I found a great alternative that I'm looking forward to learning about, needs to be done, and brings me joy when I do it and get to enjoy the results.
This semester I'm learning about car detailing. Car detailing is the process of cleaning and restoring the interior and exterior of a vehicle to as close to like new condition as possible. I found that aside from my desperate attempts of keeping my vehicle free of gold fish crackers, smelly soccer cleats, and gum wrappers I hadn't spent much time focusing on the aesthetic upkeep of my car. I just had the opportunity to trade in my trusty Honda Odyssey for a Toyota Highlander that I love so I'm excited to learn how to take better care of it.
These are the supplies I used to detail my windshield. I used WD-40 to recondition and clean the rubber on my windshield wipers. I washed my windshield really well then applied and buffed off butter wax to make the glass hydrophobic so the water beads off and the windshield wipers are more effective.
Just waiting on a good rain storm so I can see how well this worked. It looks pretty though!
One thing I appreciate about the occupation I ended up choosing is that the place (my car) as Delaisse, Hout, and Veronis presented is always with me. If I have 15 minutes I can go out to my garage and do a quick project to work on my new occupation. However in terms of space, I have already become much more sensitive to the work I am putting in getting ruined. When my kids eat in the car or leave their day's worth of possessions I am much more annoyed about cleaning them up after working hard to make the car look nice. As far as my car being a "container for experiences" I value having a car that looks nice as I drive my kids around, have important conversations with family or friends in it, or take some much needed alone time to decompress after a long day. I realized a car can become a home away from home. I never regret taking the extra time I have to keep it cleaner and to start learning about ways to make it look its best.
References
Delaisse, A.-C., Huot, S., & Veronis, L. (2020). Conceptualizing the role of occupation in the production of space. Journal of Occupational Science, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2020.1802326
Hi Alissa! First off, I love your slogan for the blog! It's very clever :) I also really appreciate how you were able to realize your car as a place that is a "container of experiences!" We do so much "living" in our cars, that I don't think we realize just how important of a place it is. I know whenever I get in the car I relax because it is a place I can have some alone time, and listen to music or a podcast of my choosing. Since grad school stared it definitely has become a home away from home! How long did your car detailing take you? Are you mostly detailing the outside or the inside too? Sidenote, my mom just got a Toyota Highlander and she loves it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Gabriella! My windshield only took about 30 minutes. I'm hoping this is a project that lasts a few washes before it needs to be done again. I've only done a few jobs on the outside of my car but have been very conscious of the inside and try to at least clean out all the extra "stuff" everyday. I'm really loving the feeling of getting into a cleaned car because trying to keep the house clean feels like a losing battle every day! The car is a smaller space I can have more control over. So cool that your mom just got the same one! It's a fun car to drive!
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