Crafting is Good for Your Health

Well, here we are at another Monday.  I hope you all have big plans for the week, as I need someone to live vicariously through.  My week will, as usual, consist of going to classes and doing homework and then going to class and giving out homework.  Oh the life of a student-teacher.  But I’m starting to get attached to my kids after just a couple weeks, I’ll be sad to have to leave them and go on to another classroom.  But that’s a problem for another day.

Being Monday I of course have to remind you to check out my sister blog Zombie Coffee Press for the newest installment of Home, Hearth, Hell by Mark Rivers.  It’s pretty chilling and a nice break from the Monday monotony.  I have yet to have my cup of coffee for the day so I’m looking forward to sitting down with a cup and doing some reading (which is also a fantastic excuse to put off homework).

Now, I have something I want to share with all my crafty followers out there.  I was reading the February issue of “O” magazine (for those of you don’t know, that’s Oprah Winfrey’s magazine) and came across a very interesting article.  It was discussing how easy it can be to get caught up in the excitement of a moment, or to long for big moments that make you feel that kind of manic excitement you can’t find anywhere else.  Well, long-article short, that kind of excitement isn’t good for you long term.  It’s almost the equivalent of getting high, it screws with your brain, and once it wears off it actually leaves you feeling depressed.  What is the cure for this you ask?  Well, it’s simple.  Do more crafts.  Apparently working with your hands and creating things releases dopamine which makes you happier in the long run.  Sure it’s not that hyper-excited feeling where nothing else matters, but it’s the kind of contentedness that lasts for the long term and actually makes your mind feel at peace. No wonder we crafty-people are some of the nicest around.

So go do yourself a favor and work on a craft today! (And a shout out to Alison D. over at Hardcovers and Heroines for recommending this fantastic issue of “O” .  It’s great.  You should all go read it too).