A friend of mine can tell you how many times I’ve gone rogue on a crafting project. I’ll try to do it by myself only to make serious mistakes I tell her about later. It is funny because my crafting mistakes usually only cause amusement. I can live with mistakes in my own projects, but it also teaches me something about life.
First, crafting teaches me to learn from the mistakes. Once I’ve done something, I don’t usually make the same mistake again. I file it away in my head to remember the next time I confront something.
Second, it teaches me to learn from others. When I try something and it doesn’t work, I know to go to experienced people and ask for advice, watch videos, or read instructions they have written.
Third, crafting teaches me to pick my battles. What is worth ripping out and fixing versus deciding when done is better than perfect? When is a project worth a lot of effort or not?
Fourth, crafting reinforces a quote by former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George: “There is nothing so fatal to character as half-finished tasks.” While craft projects aren’t as big of a deal as diplomacy, unfinished projects that sit around too long become an unnecessary stressor so crafting proves that I need to know myself and how much I can handle at one time.
Finally, crafting teaches me to focus. I don’t craft while distracted. Instead, I calm my distracted mind by focusing on a craft. The methods I use to concentrate while crafting bleed into my daily tasks of writing, caregiving, and working for others.
I use craft skills like crochet, cross-stitch, quilting, sewing, loom knitting, and even (rather poor) charcoal and pastel sketching to relax, but in the long term, those skills teach me about myself. When I leave projects unfinished for too long, crafting can even become a burden instead of a stress reliever. Crafting quietly helps me see truths that may otherwise be difficult to identify, and instead of crashing into it head on, I come to understand those truths in a simpler fashion. The truth is that I couldn’t survive without my crafting projects because those activities help me see how to select a project, pick the necessary parts, learn to assemble it, and admire the finished product. I don’t try to conquer a project all at once. I break it down into parts and work on each task.
That’s a pattern for work and life.
Reference:
David Lloyd George Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/david_lloyd_george_150467
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Inspirational Verse for the Day:
Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10, CSB)
