A Time to do a Craft

Last night I stayed in, poured myself a glass of wine and worked on a Pinterest craft while waiting for responses to messages on a dating app. (I took my great grandma’s doilies and put them in embroidery hoops – see in the picture.)

I felt old because my craft worked on the first try, and young because I had glue all over my fingers.

I felt old because my social energy was drained from working and going to some sidewalk sales downtown, and young because I don’t know what else I would have used the doilies for.

I felt old because I would rather stay in than go out, and I felt young waiting to see if I had any messages to respond to.

Some of these old/ young things may have nothing to do with age. We set age limits on so many things, but we are exactly the age we are meant to be doing what we are doing right now.

I can’t remember the last time I worked on a craft just to craft. I quickly finished a couple of stitches on a few things that needed fixing before I moved, but other than that the last things I made were dance props. It was nice to take time to make something for my new apartment walls rather than to be used on stage.

When was the last time you worked on a craft or project for yourself? If you are a people-pleaser like me, you know how hard it can be to make time for yourself rather than always working on things to help your work or other people. It is important to make time to do things we want to do just as it is important to help others. Finding a balance of helping ourselves and helping others will be something that ebbs and flows as we journey through life. Different seasons we need to be a better friend to ourselves, while in other seasons we have more time and energy to help others.

Working on crafts is not meant to be a stressful thing. If it is not a good time, it can happen another time. If you have had the project sitting for over a year, grab what you need and set aside time on your calendar to make it happen – that way other things that are causing you stress can work around your crafting stress free time.

You can take a moment to stop thinking about everything else, grab a glass of wine and a craft.

Enjoy!

If you are looking for permission — here it is 😉

“It is better to do something than to do nothing while wanting to do everything.” – Winston Churchill

“We need to embrace imperfection because otherwise, our messy, real life will never feel like enough.” – Unknown

“When you give yourself time to pause and relax; your life blooms in peacefulness.” – Sangeeta Rana