Published on
Updated
Reading 2 min.
It’s not just exercise or meditation that can provide good mental balance. According to a comedian, who wrote a book on the subject, one activity in particular, accessible to everyone, has the gift of boosting your morale almost instantly.
Many activities today allow you to preserve your own mental health, whether through sport, meditation, gardening or even cooking. But according to Sam Reece, a colorful American comedian and author, one activity in particular could put a smile on your face with little effort. But what is it?
Reconnect with the child inside you, temporarily
According to the artist, it is nothing more and nothing less about DIY. But be careful, we’re not talking here about putting up a shelf or redoing the plumbing, but about giving free rein to your imagination via what she calls Shitty Craft, literally “shitty DIY”.
The goal is therefore not to create something constructed and durable but to embark on a little DIY, a low-end craft, without thinking, just by having fun. So it’s up to you to collage, colors, paint… Anything that will reconnect you to your inner child without any goal of perfection above all. An activity that goes against the grain of all daily expectations, like a breath of fresh air on your day.
“For me, crappy crafting is a silly, low-stakes way to be creative and give my brain a much-needed break from my full-time job of overthinking every moment of my life. Crafting “Shit helps me overcome my big three problems: anxiety, burnout and perfectionism” indicates the author. And why not ?
Getting started with shitty craft, instructions for use
Getting out of the objectives of well-done missions is not that easy. But the artist affirms, we all have the capacity to get started with shitty craft. And even offers a first guide to getting started (even if the possibilities are endless) in the magazine Stylist :
- Choose a canvas! Look around your house for something that looks like it needs a bunch of stuff stuck to it – an old sweatshirt, a box of tissues, a tote bag, a loose piece of cardboard – anything really! ;
- Dig out your box of beads from six years ago, where you swore jewelry making would be your thing. (We all have a collection in this taste);
- Hot glue a bunch of beads, feathers and colored elements onto this improvised canvas. Don’t think about the design or the outcome. Just glue. Stick until it feels finished;
- Celebrate your beautiful, perfect, breathtaking creation!
Does she seem ugly to you? No worries, beauty is not the goal. “Display it proudly somewhere in your home to remind yourself that making art isn’t about perfection or being the best – it’s about giving yourself the space to create without any pressure or expectations imminent”, she confides. What if having an area where you are not perfect, but where you have fun, like an outlet, was the secret to better mental health? Get your glue gun, quickly!