Are you wondering why you feel great when creating handmade stuff? Are people asking you why you love doing what you’re doing? Show this to them!
There are endless reasons why crafting is best for you but here are a few reasons that you should be thankful for:
1. Crafting Helps You Avoid Anxiety And Depression
Consider that the rate of depression in industrialized nations has increased tenfold over the last 60 years. That steep rise coincides directly with rapid technological advancements. Meanwhile, the Amish communities in the U.S., who create almost everything they have by hand, have very low incidences of depression.
According to Carrie Barron, M.D., a psychiatrist and the co-author of The Creativity Cure: How to Build Happiness With Your Own Two Hands, wrote an article that explains, “Creating something with your hands fosters pride and satisfaction, but also provides psychological benefits. When you make something, you feel productive, but the engagement and exploration involved in the doing can move your mind and elevate your mood.”
This book also tell us that crafting helps us with self-expression. As a result, it allows us to let go of negative thoughts or experiences. It also shows that activities using your hands such as crafting, painting, cooking – have a therapeutic effect on many people and we get a deep sense of emotional satisfaction and well-being when we do something that requires physical effort, including coordination and especially movement of the hands.
According to a study, regular handmade creative expression help women to become happier and healthier and they felt enhanced their self-worth.
Women with Breast Cancer looked at the benefits of Arts and Crafts in that study. Here are some benefits of the study:
- Feeling physically better
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Positve medical results
- Positive in flow and spontaneity, positive identity, and social interactions.
2. Crafting Is The Catalyst Of Happiness
Have you ever experienced being hooked in an activity or project that you lose track of time? Do you remember forgetting to do something because you enjoyed it a lot? This state is similar to meditation. According to Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi this phenomenon is called Flow and defined it as “a few moments in time when you are so completely absorbed in an activity that nothing else seems to matter”. With decades of research to support his claim, Csikszentmihalyi asserted that Flow is “the secret to happiness”. Crafting can put us into a flow state.
The process of creating and being in ‘flow’ also relaxes and calms the human body. Making handmade stuff is incongruent with anxiety, anger, depression, and paranoia. It helps you concentrate on what’s in front of you and distract you from everyday pressures and problems. They’re stress-busters.
3. Crafting Is Good For Your Brain
“It is by having hands that man is the most intelligent of animals.” – Philosopher Anaxagoras.
So why is crafting good for your brain? Self-express increases your brain activity and when you start creating, you stimulate the somatosensory and motor cortex of the brain. The process of stimulating this cortex creates connections between different parts of the brain. Intelligence is believed to be more to do with the number of connections within a brain rather than its size. Hence, the more you craft and create, the more connections you foster and – you guessed it – the smarter you’ll be!
This is why Crafting is also a great activity for kids to start exercising their brain from a young age.
4. Crafting Gives Meaning To Life
There’s something about putting together something by hand, whether it’s needle crafting, beading, woodwork – anything that requires hands-on participation that adds a whole dimension to a person. Add to that the satisfaction that is felt once the item is completed, and what more does a person need?
5. Crafting Helps You Become A Better Person
Crafting gives you happiness, good health, and creativity. It also helps and lifts others. If are happy, healthy and not stressed out as you create, you become more patient, generous and kind to other people.
Crafting also encourages you to share what you create for others. It also enables you to get connected with other hobbyists thus improving your social interactions.
We make gifts to celebrate holidays or just to say “Thank you”, “Happy Birthday” or ‘I’m Sorry”. We sew for loved ones, and we uplift others and connect more deeply through our crafts.
How about you? How does crafting influenced your life? Let us know in the comments!
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