Can Crochet help you find Physical, Spiritual and Social Fulfillment?

What is Fulfillment?

The Oxford Dictionary defines fulfillment as “the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted” and “satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one’s abilities or character.” There are many ways to find fulfillment in your life, and many types of fulfillment to explore. During my military career, we spent a good deal of time working on and learning about the different types of resilience. I noticed a direct correlation between resilience and fulfillment – in fact, they can almost seem interchangeable. Keep reading to explore three types of fulfillment: Physical, Spiritual and Social.

Physical Fulfillment 

It turns out that there are several physical benefits to crocheting (and any of the fiber arts). Benefits such as: 

• maintaining finger dexterity
• the repetitive motion can “distract” your brain from chronic pain or other negative impulses (i.e. smoking, eating)
• can be therapeutic in developing or relearning fine motor skills
• Studies show promising results in staving off mental decline and dementia associated with aging

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about that last point. Anything that can combat mental decline is a win in my book!

Spiritual (or Mental) Fulfillment

Spiritual fulfillment does not have to be something religious. It can be whatever brings you a sense of calm and mental well being. Many people practice this kind of fulfillment through prayer or meditation. 

I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to meditate. My mind wanders and starts thinking about all of the things I could or should be doing instead. I end up feeling more frazzled than when I started and like I’m behind and wasted my time. 

But – did you know that studies have shown that the repetitive motion of crocheting (and knitting, needlework, etc.) activate the same brain centers as meditation? It goes along with the distraction I mentioned last week. By activating these centers in the brain, you get the calming benefits of meditation, but you also have something to show for it when you are finished!

Speaking of having something to show for it, crocheting builds your self confidence too! If you are just starting out, you may think I’m blowing smoke here. But, trust me, there’s nothing better for building your confidence than finishing a project and knowing that you created something beautiful. Take time to celebrate your crochet victories (even the small ones!) and watch your self esteem improve!

Those same centers in your brain are responsible for relieving anxiety and depression. It is what helps you feel calm when you “zone out” while crocheting. They’ve even done some studies where they monitored heart rates, and the participants’ heart rates actually lowered while crocheting. I’m assuming that they did not include any data from crocheters dealing with a huge knot in their yarn, but that’s a different discussion!

If you are the praying type, you can incorporate prayer into your crochet. You can either use crochet as a meditative activity as described above, or intentionally create a prayer shawl. Traditionally, the creator prays constantly while creating a prayer shawl, with the intention of infusing the prayer into the shawl so that it comforts the future recipient and helps bring them peace. 

All of these points are pretty exciting to me. It seems that crochet really can be part of your self care as you look to practicing spiritual and mental well being and finding that calming balance in your life.

Social Fulfillment

There are a few different ways that crocheting can help with your social fulfillment. First off is straight up social interaction by joining a crocheting community. This can either be a local group or an online community. It can really help build a sense of community by getting together with others that have a common interest. These groups can be focused on a specific goal, like working on projects for a specific charity or recipient, or just a chance to meet and work on projects together. Many communities have groups that meet at the local library, as part of church groups or at the local yarn store. 

Speaking of charities, this is another great opportunity for fulfillment. Making items to give to a charitable organization is a great way to give back to your community and to connect with others. 

Some of my favorite charities are: 

• Knitted Knockers – knitted or crocheted prosthetic breast forms for cancer survivors (check out my blog post on them here or visit their site at www.knittedknockers.org) 
• Project Linus – supplies handmade blankets to comfort kids who have experienced hardship or loss (www.projectlinus.org)
• Warm-Up America – variety of handmade items, including squares to be made into blankets, which is a great way to try out new stitches! (www.warmupamerica.org)

You can also spread joy in your local community by “yarn bombing” various objects (as long as it is legal, of course). Some suggestions are trees, lamp posts and benches. There were even some ladies in the UK who decorated all of the post boxes in honor of the Queen’s Jubilee! If yarn bombing isn’t your thing, you can also tie scarves around lamp posts for those in need. 

One final way you can connect to your community through crochet is through your church, if you have one. Many churches have a prayer shawl ministry or use other handmade items as part of their missionary work. 

I hope this has given you some ideas on how to use your crocheting to find social fulfillment! Check out the PDF below for the resources used in researching this information.

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