This is from a guy that started a paper crafting sight that I have been buying from for the last five or so years. Love their stuff and they have tons of freebies. Always willing to help too. Some of their stuff is pretty complex! He just put this up and it speaks to WHY crafting is such a help. I thought some might be interested :)

https://www.3dsvg.com/panic-guitars-meditation-paper-crafts-the-benefits-of-crafting/

my brain would go nuts. I can't read directions without feeling overwhelmed. If I absolutely have to read some directions, I force myself to calm down so I can attempt it. I'm usually successful, but I never until this moment considered it panic. It started right after I had my twins. If I don't have to figure out the directions, I just let someone else take care of it for me like with work. I just call the IT lady and let her take care of what is happening.

But with what he said, I definitely see that crafting calms my brain, although when I crochet, I still think, but I get involved in the creating. I love to put colors together. I do it with tied quilts, too, although I've quit doing quilts as I was just done with doing them. If my daughter has kids, I'll make some. My kids have plenty.

Piano used to calm me, but I no longer play (since I had twins and they wanted to sit on my lap).

But, of all things, TYPING calms me. I guess I found the right job for myself. The rhythm.

I did take crafting classes when my kids were small and I loved doing it.

He has made some really good points. Don't tell my boyfriend, though, as he just started taking guitar lessons and they are driving him nuts. Tom Petty jumped out at me in this link as that is one of the guys he is trying to play. He decided not to be in this next recital. I think it is a bit EARLY to be playing recitals and too much pressure. I've told him that.

Walking is the most important thing I can do for my anxiety, but I see what he is talking about. Never thought of it that way. I'm on a very, very low dose of Prozac and, lately, I'm feeling I need something else. Maybe I need to get walking more.

I’m a workaholic, so work calms me. I do leaded glass. I have a strange affinity for glass. Maybe it has some frequency that matches my own. I have synesthesia and a strong sense of anthropomorphism, so I see it almost as a living thing. My shop is only 5’5” high. Luckily, I’m 5-3” tall, so I zip all around down there and never hit my head.

I had to laugh at myself. The other day, I walked down into my shop and put my hand on a window that I’m working on. I said, “Hello, my Darling.” Haha. Everyone needs a darling !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2020 11:03AM by kathleen.

Yes.

When I knit something complex, the laser focus on the pattern and my stitches makes the world melt away.

I will always make mistakes. Sometimes I catch it soon enough that I don't have to rip out hours or days of work. Sometimes it's a mistake that I can fix with a crochet hook. Sometimes it's a mistake that I decide to leave.

Every project reminds me that I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. And sometimes imperfection is beautiful.

Complex knitting? How complex? This complex? Maybe :) ?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/488046890/knitting-pattern-australian-animals?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=knit+koala+pattern&ref=sr_gallery-1-13&organic_search_click=1


https://www.etsy.com/listing/489879455/vintage-knit-pattern-australian-wombat?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=knit+wombat+pattern&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2020 05:22AM by Susan I/S.

Thanks for this article, Susan I/S!

I'm too perfectionistic to be a knitter or sewer. Circumstances have forced me to sew, and I was terrible at it. It would drive me nuts, to have to undo hours or days of work. I admire sewers (I mean, those who sew).

Typing is fun for me, too. Once, I took a temporary work-at-home job, which was basically data entry, based on speed, with no thinking involved. At first, I did OK, I couldn't answer the doorbell or phone, or take a bathroom break, because log-outs were a black mark on our evaluation. I was being micromanaged, and I like to be in charge. I had to tell the kids to not interrupt me, for those hours. I typed alone, behind a locked door. After a few weeks, I could feel my mind start to unravel. I started making mistakes, cried a lot, and became irritated with the kids. The non-stop repetition and the constant pressure had worn me down. I quit the job, and the supervisors said, "Yeah, we have a lot of burn-out in this job." I admire Cl2!

I need to be creative and flexible and free. (Cl2 is all that on RFM, so, really, it's different than her regular work.) My regular career offers all of that. I'm the boss, I work with great (non-Mormon) people, the hours are flexible enough, I can power through when I'm sick, do about 1/4 of the work from home. Whenever I took work home, my kids could interrupt me, and I could always stop, and smile and say, "Yes, what do you need, Sweetheart?"

Besides family and work, my passion is music. I love the joy of it, and the self-expression. I love the learning process, and took lessons from age 5 to 25, and organ lessons, too. I taught piano when I was a SAHM. Piano boosts confidence and self-esteem, and improves grades in kids. I did not enjoy playing for the road shows and sacrament meeting performers--it was all that repetition, again. Repetition is huge in Mormonism. Accompanying the ward and stake choirs took me away from my family at Christmas time, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings, in addition to the usual 3 hour block. The music died for me when correllation happened, and we were told that only the Mormon church hymn-dirges and the "church sanctioned" Mormon-written stuff could be played, including for the preludes and postludes (my favorites). When my family and I resigned from the cult, I quit playing altogether, for over 5 years. I was that burnt-out on music and the church. Our family hobbies were skiing, tennis, hiking and outdoor sports, soccer and baseball games, dancing. Now that my children have left the nest, I am back to playing the piano, but for myself, my family, and grandchildren. When I feel angry, I can I can pound out the Beethoven. WhenI need cheering up, I play Beatles and old pop songs. I like to play love songs, little kids songs, duets, jazz, rock, folk, flamboyant Chopin and Greig. I can appreciate the learning process, at my own speed, in my own time, and the eventual satisfaction. I don't have to undo anything, as it all builds upon itself. I like the perfection and mechanical precision of the Bach inventions, the concentration, and the challenge of not making any mistakes. In contrast, my favorite music at the moment is Debussey--the musical equivalent of the French Impressionist painters. It's soothing, and beautiful to me. More horizontal than the
vertical hymns.

It is interesting to read an article that touched on WHY music soothes away my anxiety. Probably a hobby needs to be engaging or complex enough to take the focus off of your problems. Music puts me into "flow", as does skiing. with skiing, if you don't focus, you could break your leg, and it is exciting, aerobic, and the scenery is beautiful. Skiing is my own personal cure for sorrow, and is actually cheaper than therapy. You would think the scari-ness of careening down a mountain would create anxiety, but it actually dissipates that free-flowing type of anxiety that is so disabling. I hum with joy, and smile until my teeth freeze.

When I sit down at the piano, often hours will go by, without my realizing it. It used to be like that on the organ, in that old stake house with that amazing German open-pipe organ, which the wealthy stake had assembled piece by piece into the building that was built around it, like a giant wooden acoustical music box. Back in the organ's day, Mormon stakes could keep the money they raised themselves, to use for whatever purpose they saw fit. We lived only one block from the stake house, and I had the keys. I would practice at night, after the kids were asleep, and sometimes it would be 3:00 am, and I wouldn't even know it. That's flow!

It's variety I crave. I would (and did) go nuts if I were limited to only one type of music, or only one composer.

I really envy you. I tried but have zero talent :(

For me, house or car fixing/working is great!


Sex is better though.

Variety? You were in the wrong church.

My favorite hobby to do by myself, is reading. I can get lost in a good book, and temporariy forget about the world and its problems. I often stay awake way too late, because I get caught up in reading.

I couldn't imagine reading the same few books over and over again. I read the BOM 7 times! Those were among the most boring, depressing hours of my life! Needless to say, I never did feel the spirit. I know people, like the women in my old book club, who read only Deseret published books.

Feast upon "Mormon Doctrine." Get lost in "Standing for Something". Be inspired by "The Miracle of Forgiveness" Ugh. I read those, and many more, as my TBM parents bought them all. Then there is a whole new category of women's books, written by GA wives and General women's auxiliary presidents, on how to obey the priesthood, keep sweet and land a temple husband. Remember "Fascinating Womanhood?" LOL.

Luckily, I read mostly other books, and even textbooks were more interesting than Mormon junk. Otherwise, I would have hated reading. I couldn't live without it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2020 09:08PM by forestpal.

Reading is my #1, hands down. I MUST read every single day. Period. Getting older, printed books are getting tough. I am going digital as much as possible so I can bump up the font. Also, storage is a real challenge. We donated 100s of paperbacks a couple of summers ago and some hardbacks but many of my hardbacks are old friends and I read them over and over. This may sound silly but they are one reason we may stay put for retirement. I did keep a few paperbacks like my childhood Dickens. I just couldn't donate them. Hell, I even have quite a few of my baby books and keep the most beloved in a dresser drawer. Not a mark in them or a dog eared page.

https://www.amazon.com/Five-Beds-Bitsy-Puppy-Grows/dp/B000NRCJG8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=SZYKG1DTTZXV&keywords=five+beds+for+bitsy&qid=1580119769&s=books&sprefix=Five+beds%2Caps%2C206&sr=1-2

I get so lost in a good book it was a real problem for me in grade school. I wouldn't hear the bell and the teacher would have to come out and fetch me.

That mormon crap was all so horribly written. Even if I could get past the content it was just bad. I think most of it is 6th to 7th grade level. On a good day.

I'm happy to know there is at least one other text book reader out there :P

A LONG time ago, there were classes teaching how to become an amateur radio licensee in church buildings, IDK if that was ONLY for brethurine or not, I didn't observe any wymen in the room (at a chapel).

Lot too long ago, Getting a ham radio license was contingent on knowing / understanding LOTS about electronics, RF energy, antennas, etc. but I understand that it's been dumbed down.