They say that the most important thing a human being must do is find himself, or herself, an activity which will keep him, or her, mentally active and busy. That’s why all those survival manuals always have a great chunk dedicated to that topic.
I myself love sewing and I try to do at least some sewing every day, at least for half an hour if I don’t have time for more. When I ended up in the hospital a while ago and couldn’t do practically anything, I realized just how important it is to have something that will keep your mind occupied. The thing that devastated me the most then was precisely inactivity, both of mind and body.
If you think “Nah, I don’t need a hobby, I’m fine like this.” or something like that, you’re wrong my friend. So, let’s find you a real nice craft to complete your life in a way you probably didn’t think an activity would be able to – with mindfulness, that’s right.
Sewing
This craft isn’t helpful and useful only because you work your brain and sharpen your mind but you actually get palpable, handy products from it as well. Anything you create by sewing you’ll be using for quite some time, whether it be a small shopping bag, a purse, a regular skirt, dress or even a gown.
I started sewing on a Singer when I was only seven years old and I loved it from the first second. Kids aren’t crazy, they won’t hurt themselves by making crafts, not if you explain everything properly to them. That’s what my mom did. She taught me about basic techniques and tricks for hours and hours until I mastered them all. I still use most of those exact same techniques even today! Little by little, as I became more and more skilled, my love for sewing grew bigger. In 2017 I started my blog “HelloSewing” to share my love for sewing with the other aspiring sewers around the world. Now I can’t imagine a day without it!
Everyone should at least try sewing. If you love it, great, if you don’t, that’s fine, too. But you will love it, trust me.
Embroidery
This is another wonderful craft which has been a bit neglected lately. Well not exactly neglected but definitely overlooked because nowadays everyone does it with the help of a machine, instead of doing it by hand. But let me tell you why doing it by hand is much better, of course if you’re not in a hurry and if you’re not doing it for a living.
Take a look at all those old ladies living in villages or on farms. Even if they have over ninety years, they still thread the needle in one go. How can they do that when they practically don’t see anything? Finger dexterity, baby, and mastered hand to eye coordination. They either knitted for a lifetime or they did hand embroidery for the same amount of time. So, they practiced day in and day out, they don’t even need to see anymore. That’s also why they aren’t senile either, they kept their minds busy at all times, letting it work at optimal level thus keeping it young and fresh instead of stale and rusted.
Holiday Crafts
Giving and receiving presents for holidays is a lot of fun indeed and we all love it. But let’s face it, out of ten gifts you’ll use maybe two tops if you’re lucky. The rest will bring a smile on your face when you get them but you won’t actually need them so you won’t use them. You’ll keep them around for a while out of courtesy but eventually you’ll get rid of them.
But if it’s a gift from the heart, which someone gave you with sincere emotions, you’ll treasure it forever. I keep a rock like that. A rock. One kid from an orphanage gave it to me a long time ago. He had searched for it for a long time so he really put some effort into it.
You can have your friends and family join you in this project and you can create various crafts for each other. None of you will waste time on useless stuff and everyone will be happy with their gift – especially if you make a little money pouch and put a little something inside like twenty bucks. Who wouldn’t love that?
