Why Hobbies May Have Saved Our Sanity in 2020

Take a time machine back to March and April of 2020, the doom days of the coronavirus pandemic. We were all newly quarantined, either lost our jobs or unable to go into the office. We couldn’t see friends or family to soften the blow.

Now walk into a grocery store and head into the baking section. Just like the sudden disappearance of paper products, there is one item you likely won’t see—yeast.

Its sudden departure is surprising. Toilet paper and tissues, we expected. Yeast, an agent to make bread rise? Why would a non-essential item such as this be rapidly depleting?

A quick glance at social media reveals an answer—everyone is learning how to bake bread. From those on furlough to students sent home from campus, from twenty-somethings onward, everyone is trying to bake. The smell of a fresh French loaf has permeated the nation.

Step back into the present day. The Delta variant is raging. We're facing another lockdown, even after we developed vaccines and stepped back into the world. We're poised again to fall back into a yeasted Armageddon.

Quarantine led us down a few rabbit holes, and one of them was our personal hobbies. Crafty things overtook our lives—we were covered in yarn, flour, fabric, paints, beads, and the entire stock of a Michael’s craft store. While these supplies didn't take as much of a hit as yeast, sales on crafts like jigsaw puzzles soared.

AARP’s website documents this upward trend for seniors, and promotes puzzling as a multigenerational activity with most family members at home. “’We're seeing sales numbers that are exceeding what we usually experience during December during the height of holiday shopping season,” says Thomas Kaeppeler, president of Ravensburger North America, a leading puzzle brand. “To put that in perspective, Ravensburger sold about seven puzzles per minute in 2019, and so far in 2020, we are looking closer to selling 20 puzzles per minute.’”

We as a population sought refuge from the coronavirus in our homes, as ordered, but while at home, we delved into crafts, baking, and home improvement projects. In an online study from Berkeley of over 3,500 knitters, “the majority said it helped them relieve stress and unwind from the pressures of work. Additionally, those with anxiety disorders reported that knitting helped them cope with stressful situations.”

An article from Craft Test Dummies, a website focused on product reviews and craft tutorials, says “the repetitive action of needlework can induce a relaxed state like that associated with meditation and yoga…..But unlike meditation, craft activities result in tangible and often useful products that can enhance self-esteem.”

Feel-good results aren’t singular to knitting and needlepoint. Outside of the yarn arts, numerous groups exist such as “quilting guilds, art guilds, polymer clay retreats, online groups…altruistic groups [will often] donate finished goods for hospitals, the Red Cross, and countless local organizations,” according to Craft Test Dummies.

Crafting helps our problem-solving skills as well— “Psychologists believe a strong sense of self-efficacy is key to how we approach new challenges and overcome disappointments in life. So realizing you can, in fact, crochet a sweater for your nephew can help you tackle the next big paper your teacher assigns.” (CNN)

We unconsciously began these tasks to cope with the enormous stress of the pandemic. Painting an abstract flower or planting that vegetable garden gave us a distraction, but a distraction with benefits. This is a technique we will need in the days ahead, something we can apply to all our stressors.

The meditative effects of indulging in our hobbies are significant. The feel-good chemical dopamine is released during pleasurable activities. “Scientists believe dopamine was originally designed to make us repeat activities that would help the species survive, such as eating and having sex. Over time, we've evolved so that the brain can also release dopamine while we're staining glass or decorating a cake.” (CNN)