This month I have been thinking about the power of crafting….
Remember all those livelihoods projects involving sewing machines? Is that crafting for poor people? Do only the well off “craft”?
But you know, crafting is cool guys. Crafting is what you make it and how you make it.
What is “crafting”? A craft is an activity that involves making things skilfully with your hands, such as painting or pottery but also any activity or job that involves doing something skilfully. I would also say that crafting brings an element of creativity – there are more than two ways to knit a sock…..
I have definitely increased my crafting portfolio over the years (does making chutney also count as crafting?). I enjoy knitting and crochet although I am super slow and have some cross-stitch that I have been working on since 1989 (yes really). I bought a little sewing machine and had great fun making Christmas bunting although I realise that I have a total inability to imagine designs in 3D which isn’t very helpful for sewing. I have dabbled with watercolours and find those colouring-in mandalas very soothing. You could say my garden is in a way, a form of crafting. Crafting in motion perhaps. With slugs.
Doing crafty stuff with kids is always great fun and a good way to release all illusion of control and of what should be done “in the proper way”. Yes it can be messy, but there is a difference between messy and dirty. In a time where screens are more and more prevalent in our lives, getting away from it and engaging in a little creativity can be immensely powerful. We learn a lot from our creative pursuits: what stimulates us, interests us, makes us curious about the world and how we like to spend our time.
Do you have an unfulfilled creative crafty need? What do you dream about doing if only you had the time/resources?
Getting involved in crafting brings multiple tangible benefits:
1. Reduces stress (when you start in the right place). Know your limits but stretch yourself. If you have never done a particular craft before, be realistic about whether you should jump straight in at an advanced level. Otherwise the stress will just rise (yes, I am looking at you complicated knitted poncho pattern I bought 8 years ago in a fit of ambition). You also don’t need to spend a lot of money or have everything possible to get started – start small and find the craft that really brings you joy before you invest. Do you know someone who has some materials you can start with? Perhaps a local group is giving away bits and bobs you could repurpose. Sometimes we limit ourselves by wanting the best of equipment and supplies, a form of creative procrastination where we feel we can’t start until things are just right. But you know that’s just your nervous adult brain worrying about failing. Children don’t need the best wool or the best range of colours to get started. You could give them pasta, an old sock and a biro and they would get cracking.
2. Soothes the brain. The focus and attention through crafts and the repetition of the movements has been shown to release serotonin, a natural anti-depressant. Crafting can get you into a flow state, where time just flies by and your brain is unbothered by anything apart from the task at hand. A meditational action even.
3. Achievements can help self-esteem and confidence. Exploring, visualising, working on and then creating a crafty thing can make you feel better about yourself. Small achievements can have really good long term positive effects. Learning new skills in action is an affirming and positive activity. Awareness of how you are improving also builds confidence and excitement about where you could go next. Just learning in itself can be a powerful positive affirmation. If you are learning, you are in the world, you are engaged. This is where we want to be.
4. Wonderful for promoting good cognitive brain use – whether its developing hand eye coordination for children or trying to visualise a pattern in 3D, crafting can help with keeping the brain active and healthy. Recently, researcher Yonas Geda, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic, completed a study that showed knitting is neuroprotective and may reduce dementia by as much as 50%. Keeping body and mind active helps us as we get older.
5. Business income
Etsy was founded on a well of creative crafting. It only takes a few minutes browsing to see there really is something for everyone. Many people have turned their creative crafting into a business through hard work and ambition. What’s the old saying, if you work at what you love you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, that might be a bit hyperbolic, but it never does harm to stop and think, hmm could I do something with this, something that would allow me to then do x and y. Crafting can be the means to an end, or the end itself. You could become your own livelihood programme.
6. Social connection and community
The social power of crafting is immense. As we get older it can be hard to connect with new people and make new friends outside of work. I find that if you don’t have children, you also miss out on that social entry point too. But the secret fun of crafters is that they just love anyone who crafts. Especially if it’s niche and even more so if it’s dangerous. I am off to a crochet afternoon soon, invited by my new neighbour to join her crochet club. It’s an afternoon to meet new people, have a cuppa and some biscuits and work on my piece, and chat. I am always interested to see what people are working on and it’s so much easier to ask people for advice and learn new things in person. Why not start a little something if you think it would boost your social battery ?
Ultimately, crafting is fun! Let yourself go loose, no expectation of the final product, just let the creative juices flow. And if the end result is really bad you can frog it or hide it or give it away as a Christmas present to your “favourite” person. You never know what will be unleashed once you allow that creativity space to emerge.
