The healing power of crafts
As a med student, I’ve seen enough sick and isolated elderly to conclude that the secret to a happy and healthy life is activity. There are few things more damaging to the mind and body than physical or mental torpor. While a social life is a great prescription for happiness, it becomes increasingly more difficult to maintain with age. Friends die off. Disability confines you. The young withdraw from you. And everyone condescends.
But a hobby can be yours til you die.
It can give you a reason to wake up, to move, to smile, and to feel good about your life. It’s something to do with your energy, your mind and your time. And through a hobby, there’s something of you left behind.
I recommend everyone find a hobby. Preferably more than one, each requiring different skills, so that disability never prevents you from pursuing some kind of activity.
My mother is a woman of many hobbies. Work has kept her from all of them in recent years, but she has recently returned to one. She’s begun to crochet hats, scarves and blankets for fun and for a nominal profit, and has been delightfully surprised by the ease with which she has learned new techniques, by the popularity of her creations, and by the joy that comes from creating.
I’ve designed her a blog to showcase her work. The picture below is of the hat and scarf ensemble she made for me.
I hope this lights the hobby flame in you.
Great post! I totally agree that hobbies are really important to life. At the end of the week, no matter what happened elsewhere, you can have a sense of accomplishment in the crafts worked on or completed. It’s essential to me just being me.
Hi Christy,
What an interesting blog you have. (To my readers, you can find it here: http://loveinthehome.wordpress.com/)
I’ll have my mother check out your crochet work.
Cheers,
humanb
What an absolutely wonderful post!
I couldn’t agree more. It’s amazing how many people don’t have hobbies – how many are happy to sit in front of the Tv and seem to think people with hobbies are the odd ones out. But you’re right, there’s something fantastic in the starting, the freedom to make mistakes along the way, learn new things, and finally the finishing of a new project. I think one of the nicer things about the internet is that it puts people with a passion in touch. I’ve learn a lot of new things, just by digging around online.
(And incase you were wondering, you popped up via a tag search, but it was such a nice post, I had to stick in my two penneth
)
Thanks so much Occasional Crafter. Your work is lovely. Keep creating!
Right on about the whole hobby thing! I couldn’t agree more!
David