When was the last time you got your hands dirty?

(read time: 1.5 min)

Tinker, build, fix, restore, create. Kids do it ALL. THE. TIME. But as adults, we see it as frivolous.

In reality, that time spent working with your hands can free your mind, and leave you strong and empowered. From personal experience, I can tell you that even running a hand sander over our old hardwood floors this past weekend was super therapeutic, leaving me with ideas and the energy to put them into action in my own business.

YOUR BOOST

Get your hands dirty. It’s as simple as fixing up that broken thing that has been annoying you in your house. Get on YouTube, tinker and figure it out, all with your own two hands. Or if you want to go the creation route, pull crafty things out of the closet, even as simple as glue, paper, colored pencils, and just create without overthinking it.

THE SCIENCE

Science tells us that making something, and letting your artist and creator side through makes you feel strong and improves mood. According to a 2021 report in Frontiers in Psychology, a “study of 102 art and mental health projects concluded that art participation enhanced levels of empowerment and was associated with improvements in participants’ mental health” (Spandler et al., 2007).

TAKE HOME

The next time you feel exhausted with life, turn off your work and logical prefrontal cortex and turn on the work-with-your-hands mindset instead. Tinker, build or create something just for the sake of creation. And then let that strength and empowerment fill you back up to tackle whatever comes next.

No shame, no guilt, just more good days,

Nicole

(Bonus science: If you want to take it one step further, you might consider art therapy. New research is starting to unpeel the neuroscience of how creating helps to unpack the things that trigger us, and the running theory is that it engages diverse parts of our brain that often stay silent when we focus only logically on trauma, tiggers, and shame.)