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I don’t know where in the world you’re reading from, or when you will be reading this, but if the news of the world or personal stress has got you down, it might just be time for some stress crafting.
What is Stress Crafting?
There’s really nothing special about stress crafting necessarily, it’s just crafting you do while you are stressed. Of course I hope you’re crafting all the time so it is part of your life regardless of your feelings, but when you’re stressed out it’s more important than ever to work in some crafting time.
The benefits of crafting for stress are well documented. Making something can help lower feelings of anxiety and stress, and can even lower your blood pressure.
Personally I like the feeling of control that crafting gives me when I’m stressed about things (genocide, election results, etc.) far beyond my power to influence.
And if you get together with other people to make stuff, you get the added boost of community, laughter and bonding hormones that can all help relieve feelings of stress.
Picking a Stress Crafting Project
Of course you can just work on whatever you’ve been working on when you’re stressed if you have a regular crafting practice, but if what you’ve been working on doesn’t feel quite right, here are some thoughts for choosing a stress crafting project.
Do You Want to React to Your Stress?
Sometimes you might want to make a piece of art or a project that’s related to whatever it is that’s causing you stress. Some examples of this are political art (whether supporting a particular candidate or encouraging people to vote), pussy hats, the handmade Dumpster fires of all variations made in 2020 (or even face mask Christmas ornaments!).
A reaction to your stress could also be drawing or painting something that represents your feelings (and destroying it after if you want), using colors that represent your feelings or what you’re stressed about or how you want to feel instead.
Selfish or for Someone Else?
Your kind of stress crafting project might also be a selfish project, like that sweater you’ve always wanted to knit or a pair of cozy pants to wear while you sit on the couch watching election results.
Or you might want to turn outward (which can in a way be a reaction to your stress) by making items for charity such as a Welcome Blanket, blocks to donate to Warm Up America or scarves, hats or other supplies for babies or unhoused people where you live.
Easy or Hard?
When it comes to stress crafting, we all have different preferences. You might want a pure comfort project that’s mindless and meditative, like miles of garter stitch or granny stitch (that’s what I’m going with right now!).
Others might want something complicated that requires all their concentration. It might be time to learn a new technique or start a new hobby that requires all your attention. Bonus: falling down a rabbit hole of learning a new thing is infinitely superior to falling down a doom-scrolling rabbit hole.
Using What You Have?
I like scrap projects or reviving long-neglected projects when I’m looking for a stress crafting project because it feels extra productive to use what I have and to make progress on things I haven’t been.
There’s a kind of self-sufficiency to using what you already have, and a hit of usephoria doesn’t hurt in stressful times.
Just Do Something
I think the most important thing, though, is just to make something. Don’t let your creative hobbies slide because you’re feeling stressed out.
Making something beautiful, or funny or strange is a wonderful antidote to feelings of stress, heartache, frustration, lack of control, or whatever else you might be feeling in this moment.
Because stress often comes we we are busy it’s easy to feel like you don’t have time for stress crafting or that it’s frivolous to take time to do it. It isn’t, but you also don’t have to take a lot of time to do it.
Just five minutes to do something creative is a great place to start.
But this is gentle stress crafting, so don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t do it every day or if you do an hour one day and 10 minutes the next. Just incorporating any creative acts into your life will be helpful.
Creativity is Resistance
I also feel like creating is an act of resistance, not just of the stress but in a wider way. When so many people are trying to tell you what to think and do (and if you’re a woman, what you can do with your body) doing something, making something just for you is kind of subversive.
Even if you’re just knitting a pair of socks you’re saying making is better than buying, slow is better than fast, putting thought and effort into our choices is better than mindless consumption.
But even without all that, making is powerful, when you’re feeling especially stressed but also at any time.
Now would be a great time to form a creative habit if you don’t have one already. It’s a great alternative to checking the news.
