If you want to be happier, make things with your hands
How often do you make something with your hands?
Cook a meal. Make art. Garden. Knit. Write in your journal.
These are just a few forms of making -- there are so many others -- but every time you do them, every time you make something with your hands, something wonderful happens: You feel happier, more grounded, better.
Right?
I've been thinking about this a lot recently and especially this past weekend.
If you've been with me for a while, you know that after my burnout 7 years ago I began to paint.
I'm a completely self-taught artist and I love to create big, colorful, bold art. And this weekend I decided to try something completely new: to make 3-d foam sculptures/paintings.
I had to try a bunch of methods before I figured it out -- and I made a serious mess -- but it was a lot of fun!
I loved creating these shapes, covering them in color, gluing them, creating something with my hands.
(My husband snapped the photo above while I was working on one of my 3-d foam paintings!)
I'm a total research geek, so I went down a rabbit hole of research about the benefits of making things with your hands.
WOW!!! There are so many!
When you make something tangible with your hands, your brain derives a deep sense of satisfaction. Making things with our hands has always been necessary for our survival so our brain rewards making.
Making something brings you into the moment and your direct experience, so it’s also a form of mindfulness, which fuels your mental health and reduces stress, just like meditation.
When you make something with your hands, you change something in your environment and this increases your self-efficacy and confidence.
I can keep going!
As human beings, we are meant to make things with our hands.
And yet, our modern lives leave less and less room for making.
We order food instead of making it. We type instead of writing by hand. We spend so many hours in our heads and in the digital world. We consume way too much information, including news, because it's pervasive and immediately available to us.
Could this lack of making be contributing to our increasing stress?
Yes, I think it's absolutely one of the contributors.
We consume way more than we create.
So I want to encourage you to make making a regular practice!
You don’t have to make art. Do whatever kind of making fuels you. Cooking, gardening, coloring, woodworking, fixing stuff... there are so many ways to make things with your hands!
Folding the laundry and making the bed are forks of making if you bring your attention to doing them and think of them as making vs. annoying chores.
Even making a cup of coffee vs. using instant coffee is a form of making -- as long as you're fully present and create a bit of a ritual around it, instead of multitasking and doing your email while the coffee brews. (Yes, I've been there and multitasking is not a form of making, I can attest to that!)
There are so many ways to make something in your day. And every time you do, you're fueling your joy and your well-being.
So are you with me? Will you make a commitment to spend some time making this week?
Here's to more making and more joy!
Nataly