“Almost everything comes from nothing.” ~Henri F. Amiel
There are uncountable ways to deal with difficult times in life. Some people turn to prayer or meditation, others open their hearts in therapy or to friends, and many choose to hide from the pain by eating their weight in chocolate or purchasing expensive bags; to each their own. I have a different approach: crafting.
When I’ve gone through difficult times in life—depression, unemployment, relationship problems—I have often turned to craft projects. For a long time, I didn’t think much about it, but eventually I realized how much it has honestly helped me.
When I went through a serious bout of depression, combined with unemployment, I started to participate in craft swaps on an Internet forum.
Part of what helped was certainly the communication and fellowship with my swap partners. Isolation breeds unhappiness, and making things to another person’s tastes requires getting to know them, which is an effective antidote to isolation.
But a lot of what helped was the crafting itself—making things with my own two hands, planning projects, and so on.
When I was at my lowest and most frustrated, when I was writing yet another cover letter for a job I wasn’t quite sure I even wanted, the promise and plans of creation got me out of bed and into my day. It was something to look forward to when I did not have much else going for me.
But honestly, that’s something I could have gotten from almost any hobby or activity. Hell, a television show with eight seasons on Netflix can give me something to look forward to. Crafting gave me something more: healing.
How the heck did crafting heal me?
It gave me something else to think about. Rather than focusing on my own feelings and situation, I focused on picking patterns, selecting supplies from my stash, and then making things.
It was productive. There is something healing about creating something from raw materials—wool into felt, yarn into crochet, fabric into quilted bags.
It brought a confidence boost. When I felt like crap, it was easy to feel like I had no control over anything, but making something proves that, at the very least, I have control over craft supplies. It may not sound like much, but it’s a start.
It’s a sort of movement meditation. The repetitive actions of certain crafts can bring about a sort of clarity and calm, which is certainly helpful under any stressful circumstances.
It got creativity going again. When I was going through a crappy patch, I needed out of the box thinking in order to get through it. That means creativity, and crocheting vampires and embroidering pumpkins can be the first step to loosening the neural pathways.
So how can this help you?
Is there anything you enjoy doing with your hands? Whether it’s painting, sewing, crochet, embroidery, fishing, origami, woodworking, painting miniatures, or any other handicraft, it’s worth re-introducing it into your life.
If you’ve never had a hands-on hobby like that, pick something interesting and try it out. Wander around a craft store until you see something you like, or search for how-to kits on Etsy. Ask that friend who’s obsessed with Robin Hood to take you with next time he goes to the archery range, or see if your local community center offers a shop class.
Learning something new can be even more absorbing than doing something you already know. The only limit I suggest is that you find something with a physical component. While I adore cerebral activities like writing, they have a different set of benefits.
Let yourself be absorbed by it. It’s okay to become obsessed, to spend your lunch breaks and your after-work time pondering and planning for the next time you can pick up your project. In fact, that is part of the point.
If you’re fixated on making a sweater or tying a fishing lure, then you are not obsessing over everything that is wrong with your life.
Chasing those same thoughts around in circles will not help you solve anything, but breaking out of them to do something else can provide a much needed change of perspective. That change of perspective may well show you the way out (and even if it doesn’t, it’s less time that you’ve spent being miserable).
As coping mechanisms go, hobbies are a healthy one. They are inherently creative, never destructive (even fishing creates something: dinner). When you’re in a tough spot, you need to build a new life, not tear yourself down.
About Joanna Weston
Joanna Z. Weston uses crafts and story to guide women out of the shadowy realms of uncertainty, unhappiness, and anxiety, and into the light of confidence, inner peace, and forward momentum. You can find her at 3speedlife.com.
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
Hi Joanna,
Reading your post made me feel almost like I was looking into a mirror. I’m 23, also struggling with the “realities” of work/life while looking into jobs that I truly care little for to supplement my current part-time job. I also draw day and night, write some and craft when it’s needed (cosplay!) and these things give me a sustenance I know nothing in the “real world” can. It’s not about running from reality, it’s two things: coping with unhappiness and following your own inner urges to make and create. I’m asked almost daily (usually by myself) “What do I want to do?”. I want, badly, to commit to an honest answer, to say “This is what I want and this is how I’m going to do it” – but I see now it just doesn’t work that way. I’m still lost and confused but my art gives me a strength, a rock if you will, something to hold on to while lost in a sea of possibilities, something that cannot be affected by external factors for it is something so uniquely precious to me.
I truly have to agree. After my marital breakup, the best therapy I found was beginning to refinish wood furniture. The time spent in stripping and sanding, working with my hands, and feeling the wood was so symbolic of stipping down my own life and reworking it into something beautiful. I found it to be akin to meditation and I processed so many thoughts and feelings and felt real peace and accomplishment with each project.
Our cancer center has a program “Art for the Soul” and the classes are always full. I agree art/crafts are therapeutic and a necessary part of healing, body and mind.
At last! A practical and pragmatic post rather than the usual pseduopyscobabble!
I am so glad this resonated with you! It’s true — when you’re being buffeted by the seas of life, it’s so important to have something that anchors you into your truest self. Otherwise it’s easy to lose your *self* while you wait for the answer to the big question of “what do I want to do?” It probably feels like you’ll never find your way out of that (I know it felt that way for me), so I’m glad you have something to hold onto in the meantime. Take care!
I’ve never done woodwork, but that does sound like amazing symbolism for your life at that time. I’m so glad it was there for you when you needed it, and that it was able to bring you that sense of peace and accomplishment!
I’m glad you liked it!
I love this and recently discovered the benefit of ‘hands on’ activity on a busy, confused mind. In my case it is doing wood-work. I know I will never make anything worth keeping, but just focusing on the bit of wood and the sawing motion is a kind of mindfulness. I recommend this kind of activity so much.
I liked Joanna, your article. It is something new and interesting for me. If you could have given lots of example of this type of activity, it would have been more useful to choose one that suits somebody. Thanks for this nice and useful article.
I agree and couldn’t have said it better Pam!
Very helpful article. Thank you Joanna
You’re the second commenter to mention wood-work — apparently there is a trend here that I didn’t know about! I love that you’re able to separate out the benefits of the practice from the quality of the finished product.
You are very welcome! I’m glad it resonated for you.
Thank you for the article. When I’m down, I sometimes create a motivational poster using paint, paper and printed letters to remind myself to keep going. There is something special about the activity where your hands are physically touching materials. It’s like being a kid again where you play and experiment. It makes me feel like I am living in the moment where you just do with a focussed mind. Sure I could make that same poster using my computer but the experience is somehow not the same. In some way art and creativity are essential to the human well being.
I ask myself the same question daily too. What do I want…
They always say that the proces is more important than the goal and I believe it applies to the question “what do I want”. The person you will become while figuring out what you want to do is much more important than the answer itself.
I try to look deep down inside myself and find the things that are important to me. So I started making a list with things that I find valuable, things that attract me. And perhaps from that list I can get closer to finding my answer. While everything is possible, you only have one lifetime so choose which possibility you want to turn into reality.
greetings from a cosplay photographer 🙂
That’s a really interesting way to heal. I’ll have to try it next time I’m in a difficult situation, thank you so much for sharing this!
I agree. So often the posts are very abstract. I like that Joanne has written about something which can be applied practically, would be great to see many more of these kinds of posts.
Great article Joanna! I truly believe that my own creative pursuits have pulled me out of a bad place many times. Like you said, making something with your hands is satisfying and it can be so healing. Sadly, I think many people have the idea that they aren’t creative or they are being selfish pursuing hobbies/pastimes so they don’t consider this method of helping themselves. I hope you’ve inspired some Tiny Buddha readers to give it a shot! 🙂
I love crafts! I was saying yes to this entire post, they are totally healing. It was in the darkest of times when crafting called to me that I was called to it. Thanks for sharing!