Sam recently shared an article on the value of hobbies for supporting our mental health fitness. You can find it here with the catchy title, Why Knitting (and Hobbies Like It) Can Make You Calmer, Sharper, and Happier.
The article lists several more reasons why a hobby is good for you: a hobby can give you a sense of control (especially helpful if you are going through a period of great stress), you can focus on good enough instead of perfection (you are learning something new!), you are rewiring your brain with a different task (quilting requires a lot of math, a function that I avoid as much as possible), and you don’t have to create alone as you often can find a ready-made community of likeminded practitioners.
I have always found calmness when I am doing something with my hands, be it baking, quilting, crocheting, stitching or throwing clay. While I have not done much of the last two in recent years, I did a lot of the first three during the pandemic.
After losing a loved one last fall, I found great comfort in sewing. Watching the project come together when I felt so much in my heart had fallen apart proved to be key to providing clarity in my brain. There was something so soothing about planning a quilt, sorting the fabric, measuring the pieces, laying out the pattern, organizing the rows, choosing a backing, and then putting it all together.
A hobby offers the space to focus on something else, other than work or family, even if the two give great comfort and joy. It’s about balance, proportion, and attention, especially choosing a creative activity. It turns out it doesn’t matter if you aren’t any good at it in the beginning. It’s really about the process of learning and growing.
We know building fitness into our daily lives helps immeasurably with our mental health. I wrote about angry self care here and why it helps to have a good stomp. But making something, be it a loaf of bread or a pan of brownies, a good enough dishcloth, or a quilt with slightly crooked seams, also offers a sense of accomplishment you can share. There, you can say to yourself, I made that.
Making time for hobbies and physical activity means you are making time for yourself. And as the other Martha is fond of saying, that’s a good thing. The weeks where I have a good balance between work, play, quilting, and physical activity are also the ones where I feel most productive and energetic.
Prioritizing mental and physical well being offers you lots of other benefits:: You can improve your concentration and performance, you can acquire new skills, and you can reduce the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Doing a puzzle, planting a few herbs, or even deadheading a few flowers will get you away from phone/tablet, television and computer screens, reducing eye strain, doom scrolling and help you sleep better which matters more than we think when it comes to maintaining our brain and heart health.
So get out those crayons and a few index cards. Find a crochet hook and some yarn. Haul out a puzzle and see how much fun you will have. It’s time to get messy and be creative.
